Gold Coast key forward Ben Long says the Suns won't struggle to get up for games as the 2025 home-and-away season winds down, with confidence building inside the four walls of the club.
It comes after the Suns levelled two emphatic responses against Brisbane and Richmond over the past fortnight, rebounding from a crushing 61-point loss to Adelaide in Round 19. Long played a key role in both wins, kicking four goals in the QClash onslaught and contributing two majors against the Tigers on the weekend.
"It's obviously coming to the end of the season and we've got a lot of wins on the board and we hope to finish off really strong," Long told the media on Monday.
"Our sights are on finals, we're really pushing for that, so who knows where that could take us from there.
"When it comes to finals, [motivation] goes up another level. I think we're really strong in our recovery and doing the small things that week by week gets us up and going for more games.
"Mentally as well, we've had those conversations throughout the weeks. It's really honing down on that."
Long, who is in the midst of a career year in his third season at the Suns, highlighted the strength-in-numbers mentality that Hardwick has driven into the club since arriving at the beginning of the 2024 season, a mindset that is now paying dividends.
"We've come a long way from last year, Hardwick's brought a new system and we've learned that over the pre-season," Long said.
"We've really improved in our game, which is setting us up.
"It takes a village to get us to where we want to be. The likes of Jy Farrar and Alex Davies, who have come in with form from the VFL and had their moments, they've been awesome for us."
Long is certainly aware of the challenges that lie ahead, however. With clashes against Carlton, GWS and Essendon to come, a top-four position is no certainty, even with Gold Coast's impressive percentage of 125.1.
But as Long's career-high tally of 34 goals continues to increase in 2025, so does the club's confidence in a potential premiership tilt. After games like Saturday's, where the Suns refused to take their foot off the gas despite a hefty half-time margin, there's a belief they can go all the way, even if a top-four spot isn't at the forefront of the players' minds.
"Percentage-wise, things may come down to that. In terms of running out the game and putting the foot on the throat, it builds trust and confidence, coming up against really good opposition as well," Long said.
"There's not really [talk about a top four finish]... but it would be really good to finish in the top four and have that second chance. We're just really focused on our week by week, and hopefully it'll take us to where we want to be."
Long and the Suns will travel to Victoria to take on Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night, with hopes of going one step closer to securing a top-four spot, even if they don't publicly admit it.
