GOLD Coast expects to play finals next year even if Dion Prestia joins Jaeger O'Meara in wanting out of the club, says skipper Gary Ablett.

Less than a day after O'Meara told the Suns he wanted to be traded, Ablett remained steadfast in his belief Gold Coast could rise and make the top eight in 2017.

Prestia, who comes out of contract at the end of the season, is yet to officially notify the club of his intentions, although it is believed he is leaning towards following O'Meara out the door.

Ablett was tight-lipped on O'Meara's departure.

"I've got no comment on that," he told reporters.

"I'm sure over the next couple of weeks the leadership group, the coach, will have something to say, but we need to sit down and work out what the next step's going to be."

After six seasons without playing a final, Ablett said he could understand the frustration of Suns fans with the latest development.

"We've been pretty honest in saying that we've probably expected to play finals football by now and that's not the case," he said.

"I'm confident with the list we've got, we have a good pre-season and getting some guys back from injury, we're good enough to play finals football."

Ablett said the surgically repaired right shoulder that halted his season prematurely was "feeling good".

The 32-year-old expects to be running in the next month and is confident the shoulder will now be stronger than ever.