GOLD Coast coach Rodney Eade says Greater Western Sydney are the best side his club has faced in 2015, after the Giants thumped the Suns by 66 points in Canberra.
The Suns had no answer to the Giants’ run at StarTrack Oval, the home side dominating Eade’s men in all parts of the ground.
Gold Coast have now lost their first four games of the season to Melbourne, St Kilda, Geelong and GWS.
Five talking points: Greater Western Sydney v Gold Coast
“Give the Giants credit, they really are a good running side, and I think they gave us a lesson in workrate,” Eade said.
“In the transition run, they’re as good as anyone at that, they’ve got some really elite runners in their team, and are certainly the best side we’ve played so far.
“It’s only four games in but they’ve got a really bright future.”
Gold Coast players looked disinterested at times, and Eade said the lack of effort from the Suns was worrying.
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“Guys tried, but in the last half of quarters we seemed to fatigue, seemed to lose concentration. Whether that’s a fitness thing or an age thing, whether that’s a confidence issue I don’t know,” Eade said.
“If you look at the start of the quarters the pressure was really good, but to drop away is another question and we need to address that.”
Eade believes his young side also lacks leadership, especially with captain Gary Ablett missing.
“There’s no doubt about that. There’s no excuse, we’re a young side, and GWS are young in general, but if you look at Shaw, Patfull, Mumford, Griffen, Ward as well, they’ve got some really good experience,” Eade said.
“We’re working hard on that, we’re trying to develop that as quickly as we can. But getting some players who have played 100-150 games certainly helps the younger players.
“There are some holes there. We need to teach and learn and educate and I think the long-term plan is that we’re not going to take our eye off the ball of what we need to do to teach those players.”
The club will finish round four anchored to the bottom of the ladder alongside cross-town rivals the Brisbane Lions, but Eade refused to give up on the season.
