GOLD Coast coach Guy McKenna says the Suns are finally starting to look like a team, 54 games into their history.
He said they were becoming less dependent on superstar skipper Gary Ablett as young midfielders such as David Swallow, Dion Prestia and Jaeger O'Meara emerged as quality players.
He also highlighted the efforts of defender Rory Thompson and midfielder Luke Russell.
McKenna said the ability of those players to find their own ball meant the skipper did not have to start most of the team's attacking chains of play.
"[The] boys are growing up. They're maturing before our eyes," McKenna said.
Ablett said he had noticed a shift in the approach of many players as their mindset moved from hope to belief.
"[The] mental side of the game is massive and you can just see the boys are a lot more confident than they have been in the last couple of years," Ablett said.
McKenna coached the team two years ago when it lost to Geelong at Simonds Stadium by 150 points. On Saturday night, scores were level at three-quarter time.
He said there were two main areas the fledgling outfit had improved since that whacking.
"Execution… and ability to stay stronger over the football," McKenna said.
The Suns were ahead of Geelong in contested ball, tackles and the disposal count at three-quarter time. However, they were behind in all three areas by the end of the game.
Ablett bemoaned the inability to play four quarters and admitted there were some positives and some negatives on the night.
McKenna said the team spoke about what went wrong in the last quarter when Gold Coast conceded nine goals.
"Geelong went to another level," McKenna said. "They proved to us again where we need to get to. Again, a great learning curve."
