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Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew insists the overhauled Suns are better equipped to capitalise on their 3-2 start to the AFL season than they were last year.
Stuart Dew says Gold Coast are a different AFL team to that of last season and the coach will get a chance to prove it over the next few weeks.
The Suns are one of nine AFL teams with three wins and two losses in 2019, after their first four matches were decided by a total of 11 points.
A 73-point loss to Adelaide on Sunday ended that tightrope walk and sets up an intriguing QClash with neighbours Brisbane (3-2) at Metricon Stadium on Saturday.
Last year the Suns were 3-2 after a tight win over the Lions, before a 48-point to Adelaide triggered an 11-game losing streak as the Commonwealth Games kept them off their home ground.
Dew sees no comparison though after engineering an off-season overhaul. He believes the club is far better equipped to remain competitive this year.
"That was then, this is now - we're a totally different team," Dew said.
"We'd have at least half the side that's different .... we certainly don't expect that (losing streak to repeat itself).
"We think by and large, over the first five weeks, we've competed well but over the weekend we let ourselves down, so we look to rectify that."
The Suns have made 25 changes, on and off the field, since last season in a what Dew labelled a "deliberate reset".
Anthony Miles, Sam Collins, George Horlin-Smith, Jack Hombsch and rookie Jack Lukosius have all had their moments but Dew knows they will need to sharpen up for the weekend's QClash.
"We've been working a fair bit on our connection at training but haven't seen it come through in a game," he said of the suggestion that the Suns are content to grind it out low-scoring affairs.
"We want to put some more scoreboard pressure on, for sure.
"And players really bought into the pressure around the ball, which dropped on the weekend, so we expect a lift."
GOLD COAST'S NEXT FIVE AFL MATCHES
v Brisbane (home)
v West Coast (away)
v Melbourne (home)
v Port Adelaide (away)
v Geelong (home)
