Gold Coast Suns captain Jarrod Witts says internal expectations are rising on the back of club’s start to AFL season

Suns captain Jarrod Witts says the pain felt by the side from their gruelling one point loss to Melbourne is a sign internal expectations are rising at the club.

SUNS captain Jarrod Witts says the pain felt by the side from their gruelling one point loss to Melbourne is a sign internal expectations are rising at the club.

Gold Coast have been vocal in their desire to just remain in games in 2019 in order to start the journey towards potential success.

They have delivered in spades, with five of their eight games decided by less than a goal while they got within 11 points in the late stages against reigning premiers West Coast.

Gold Coast players were crestfallen in the moments after the siren following their 8.13 (61) to 9.6 (60) loss in front of 9765 spectators at Metricon Stadium.

They were in front with under a minute left thanks to a Nick Holman goal but conceded two scores, the second with around two seconds remaining, to lose.

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Witts said the emotions post-game showed the growing belief among the players that they can win more often.

“To be honest we want to be competitive but I’d be happy if we won, you want that next step up,” Witts said.

Jarrod Witts and the Suns in is tackled during the round eight AFL match between the Gold Coast Suns and the Melbourne Demons at Metricon Stadium on May 11, 2019 in Gold Coast, Australia. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“It’s nice to be competitive but you want to win every game.

“It hurt and there is some disbelief there. As much as it hurts I’m so proud of the way we fought it out.

“You know what you are going to get from us now and we are really starting to build that brand of football.”

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Gold Coast’s brand of football involves locking opposition teams into a contest and restricting ball movement.

Witts said it means the Suns will be in games longer but with scores naturally tighter as a result, they will need to take the good with the bad when it comes to what side of the ledger they are on.

“It didn’t go our way but we didn’t panic or get flustered,” Witts said.

“We thrive on being in the game for longer and we don’t shy away from it.”