The SUNS haven’t been at their best over the last two weeks, but according to defender Rory Thompson, the strong efforts on the training track have not faltered.

Thompson says the team have the chance to right the ship on Saturday against St Kilda, and it all starts with the foundation they are building from Monday to Friday.

“We’ve had a tough few weeks but one thing we haven’t dropped off is working hard and that’s what’s going to get us on the right track again to winning more games,” Thompson told SUNS TV.

“We’re just going to keep working hard and backing up each week and hopefully this is the week we can start to turn it around.”

The team had an extensive review of their performance against GWS on Monday and have identified facets of their game to improve on for this week.

“It’s just about executing the game plan for four quarters and really focusing on the things we can control,” Thompson said.

“We had a good look into that today and just highlighted a few areas that we think are in our control that we can do better for four quarters.”

Thompson has played every game this year, in stark contrast to his previous seasons with the club where he has been plagued by soft tissue injuries.

“I’ve had a pretty frustrating start to my career just not getting the consistency I want out of my body,” Thompson said.

“A lot of that is out of my control but this year we’ve had a pretty good plan going into preseason and that worked really well for me.

“Hopefully it can hold up for the second half of the year.”

His clean bill of health in 2018 has made a vast improvement to the backline this season.

Thompson’s excellent closing speed and spoiling ability makes him a perfect defensive option on opposition spearheads which allowed captain Steven May more freedom coming out of defence until he went down with injury.

Taking on some of the most dangerous forwards in the game is something Thompson excels at, and the team will need him to do it even more often in May’s absence.

“It’s definitely a challenge but it’s one I embrace, I’d happily play on the best forward each week if I can,” he said.

“That’s what I want to do as a defender.”