Geelong make light at lack of Suns heat

GEELONG have shovelled further motivation into the Suns' furnace as they continue their AFL working holiday at the Gold Coast.

GEELONG have shovelled further motivation into the Suns' furnace as they continue their AFL working holiday at the Gold Coast.

While careful not to snub their next opponents directly, Cats forward Mathew Stokes dismissed the Suns in his roll call of the competition's harder teams.

Continuing their relaxed "Club Metricon" buildup to Sunday's game against the Suns, Geelong players yesterday split their time between golf and a visit to Wet 'n' Wild water park.

Their thoughts are already cast beyond the Suns to a sequence of heavyweight bouts against Collingwood, Essendon and Adelaide.

"We've got Gold Coast then a hard run home," Stokes said of the Cats' path to the finals, which also includes Hawthorn, West Coast and Sydney.

"Our best footy has been against the harder teams. We'll back ourselves to win those games.

"The reality is we're looking forward to the remainder of the year and those tough teams. Any team that plays us in the finals, if we make it, will probably be scared."

Stokes, who was hauled out of the surf at Kurrawa Beach by lifeguards on Monday, said he did not mean to deride Gold Coast. But the brutal truth is that the Suns' efforts have invited such mockery.

Their crushing loss to the Eagles was a step back from the Coast's determined performance against North Melbourne.

The Cats, seventh on the ladder, and far from the dominant force they were from 2007 until last year, concede they are not meeting their own standards. They have an ageing list and seem undecided about what their best 22 is.

"We've been inconsistent, and picking and choosing when to play tough footy," Stokes said.

"I don't think we're out of it.

The hunger's there. We don't like losing."