STUART Dew says the pressure on his job "never goes away", but the Gold Coast coach remains confident his team can revitalise its season, starting this weekend.
The Suns are 1-4 ahead of hosting North Melbourne on Sunday, with pundits casting an eye on Dew's tenure in a season the club hopes to make finals.
Speaking on Thursday morning, Dew said he had to keep things simple, and not look too far into the future.
"Projections are for everyone else," he said.
"They don't help us in the short term. We're clearly focussed on North Melbourne this weekend. We expect to win this week."
The coach said speculation about his position - he is contracted until the end of 2024 - did not faze him.
He said his eyes were squarely on helping the Suns win games.
"You feel that pressure no matter what, that's your job," he said.
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"A win and a loss, they come and go.
"You're certainly the face of the footy club, but in behind me is a whole team and we're really confident to turn it around.
"You've got to be disciplined and look at each week as it comes. It's a long season, we do need to get going, we understand that, but for me, the pressure never goes away."
The Suns have recent experience in turning around slow season starts, going from 2-5 last year to a 7-6 win-loss record before a late-season fadeout.
Dew said he didn't want to wait any longer to start winning, but there were lessons they could take from last season, starting with maintaining their belief.
"Sitting around having meetings and talking about it doesn't fix it, it's getting out there and doing the work," he said.
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"And narrowing the focus. Last year we were 2-5 heading into Sydney and Fremantle who were flying, and in the end it's a good example that we were probably the only ones that backed us to win those two games and we got it done.
"We've shown we can do it, we just need to make sure we've got that urgency this week."
Dew could be without co-captain Jarrod Witts for a third straight game, saying the ruckman has been dealing with a back injury.
Witts will be given every chance to face the Kangaroos.