AFTER its stunning upset of Richmond last week, Gold Coast defender Charlie Ballard says it's up to the Suns' young guns to push on and create a sustained winning culture.

The 10-point triumph over the Tigers was easily among the five best wins in club history, and one Ballard says gave them a lot of confidence.

It was just the 14th win of his four-year, 62-game career.

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His first win in the AFL came late in 2018 when the Suns shocked Sydney at the SCG, but it's happened far too infrequently for the talented tall defender.

"It hasn't been a winning culture at Gold Coast, which is disappointing, but it's up to us to create it," Ballard told AFL.com.au.

"To beat a powerhouse team is going to give us confidence going into the rest of the year.

"There's been a big focus on us young boys being consistent with our weekly routine and how we're playing.

"If we can do that and take a load off blokes like Touk (Miller), Dave Swallow, Collo (Sam Collins) - those sort of blokes - that's been our main focus.

"I think we're confident of how good we are."

Including Ballard, there were eight players aged 21 or under last Thursday night.

Beating the Tigers came following three poor losses against Fremantle, Port Adelaide and North Melbourne and continued a season of inconsistency.

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The upcoming schedule is not easy for the Suns, facing Greater Western Sydney in Ballarat on Sunday, then top-four outfits Western Bulldogs, Melbourne and Brisbane in successive weeks.

Speaking from the hotel room he's had in Melbourne for over a week now, Ballard described it as an exciting challenge.

"Richmond, they're one of the best teams in the comp no matter where they are on the ladder, and the performance we put up against them proves to us we can take it up to anyone," he said.

"We've had those seasons where we've started strong and faded away and we're really strong on that not happening again. It's exciting and we're keen for it."

Ballard played arguably his best game for the club, with 17 disposals, including a game-high 12 intercepts, and nine marks.

He said learning to balance the attacking side of his game and a spoil-first defensive side had been a tricky balance in 2021.

"It probably just depends where you are on the ground," he said.

"Further upfield there's less consequences going for a mark versus a spoil.

"In defensive 50 we're looking to spoil first, get a big kill and take the smalls out of the game, that's really beneficial for us.

"Trying to find the balance has been really challenging."