Malthouse said the Suns' 119-point loss to Carlton on Saturday night would naturally put players off defecting to the new franchise if they failed to take a long-term view.
"If they're realistic enough, they'll have a look at the overall consequences as opposed to one game," he said at the Peter Mac Cup Breakfast on Wednesday at Federation Square.
If a player was in two minds about joining the new club, the immediate effect of the huge loss would be to think that difficult times "could be quite drawn out".
"If they extend it another 12 months or so, they'll realise there's a developing program in place," Malthouse said.
"From there it's not clear sailing, but we've got to be realistic to know that a young side like that is going to be exposed to some heavy traffic, players of note who have had one, two, five, 10 pre-seasons.
"They're always going to start behind. The immediate effect is - it's such a shock to see a 119-point loss, see all these kids running around - you think, 'Am I going to be a part of that?'"
Malthouse said he spoke to Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna on Sunday and told his former assistant at Collingwood that the Suns had to "crawl before they could walk".
"He understands that the darkest time of night is just before dawn," Malthouse said.
"He'll get them up and they'll be good football side. They'll suffer some pain, as do every new side, and I don't think the AFL's intent was that they'll walk straight into the eight.
"You've got to be able to feel what the competition is like first up. Whether it be 119 points or 19 points, a loss is a loss and it's how you rebound.
"I dare say with some of the senior players, they've got to stand up for him."
Malthouse also said he was not surprised at the Suns' heavy loss given the hype surrounding their round two entry into the premiership season and the fact the Blues not only entered under the radar but also had captain Chris Judd playing his 200th game.
"First up, all the media attention is on the one team and the players that have played league football were probably summoned more to the media table than normal," he said.
"Then you've got 12-odd young players playing their first game against a fairly seasoned team.
"All the hype … every kid would have felt that pressure right throughout that week, as would the committee, the coaches.
"They were in the spotlight, it was taken off the opposition, and as a consequence, that pressure, do you play your game on match day or do you play it five days earlier - I have no doubt that some of those kids had already played their game."
