Gold Coast's travel schedule is not the reason for its drop-off in work-rate over the past fortnight, says midfielder and leader Touk Miller.
The Suns started life under Stuart Dew brightly, taking care of North Melbourne and Carlton in the opening two rounds with an infectious pressure that resulted in 90-plus tackles each match.
However, things didn’t go to plan during their 11-day stint in Perth, losing to Fremantle and then being run off Optus Stadium by West Coast on Saturday night.
Ahead of Sunday's QClash against Brisbane at the Gabba, which is just a 60-minute drive north for the SUNS, Miller said the constant travel had nothing to do with their inconsistent form.
"That's definitely not the case," he said.
"We were as well prepared as we have been for a game, we trained really well during the week, had a really solid game-plan, we just didn't execute it.
"The travel's got nothing to do with it.
"I think people forget we're still two and two. It's not the end of the world."
With the Commonwealth Games now complete, Gold Coast will move from Bond University back to its Metricon Stadium training base in less than two weeks, before playing its first true home game on June 2.
They have already played matches in Cairns, Melbourne and Perth (twice) and have further trips to Brisbane (twice), Adelaide, Ballarat and Shanghai in China before playing Geelong at home.
Miller said there was no secret to how Gold Coast would have to attack the winless Lions if they were to win this weekend.
"We need to go back to what we were doing the first two rounds – the pressure, the contest, things we pride ourselves on – to take into this week.
"I think on the weekend the pressure did (drop off). I think we had something like four tackles to quarter-time, which was unacceptable as a team.
"Compare that to Carlton (in round two), we had 96 tackles on Etihad, which is unheard of.
"Anyone in-house will tell you we've got a grudge against Brisbane.
"They knocked us off twice last year, so we've got a bit to prove going into this game."
