Gold Coast SUNS vice-captain Sam Collins believes trust and consistency are the two key factors which have contributed to the SUNS’ backline strength this season.

The SUNS are ranked as a top five team in the competition for scores against through the first eight rounds of 2021 which Collins says has been in part due to playing alongside the same teammates each week in defence.

“There’s flexibility and trust there that if you’re not on your matchup that someone will be able to cover you and you know what to expect from each other,” Collins told SUNS Media.

“I think Powelly (Wil Powell) has been really exceptional this year and taken another step with his kicking and aerial support so that’s been super.

“We’ve been really consistent across the back half and that’s really helped us, we’re ranked really well for defensive scores against and things like that.

“As a back six we’re playing the footy we want now we just need to start taking that ball back in the front half of the ground.”

The SUNS currently sit 12^th on the ladder but Collins says there is full confidence the wins will start to accumulate if the team continues to stick to the process.

“I think we’ve been really consistent in the way we’ve been going about our football… albeit we’ve fallen short most weeks which we’re really disappointed with,” Collins said.

“It’s not all doom and gloom, it’s not as bad as it seems, while we would have loved to win a few more games we’ve been consistent in our approach and process during the week.

“But we definitely need to get better, we need to improve and we need to start getting some wins.”

The SUNS enter a crucial patch of the season with back-to-back games against Brisbane and Geelong who both featured in the 2020 Finals Series.

Collins said he was excited to test himself against some of the best key forwards in the competition over the next fortnight.

“It’s going to be a massive challenge for us, obviously Brisbane is always an exciting game,” Collins said.

“I know personally for me down back they’ve got three great tall forwards so that’s going to be challenging for me, and then we roll into Geelong who are similar with Cameron and Hawkins.

“We really need to take it to them and not shy away from anything, they’re both going really well but we need to come out knowing we can win the football and we’ve got the recipe to get it done.”

The SUNS take on Brisbane in the QClash at 4:35pm on Saturday afternoon at Metricon Stadium.