ABOUT to complete their seventh season in the AFL doldrums, frustrated Gold Coast co-captain Tom Lynch concedes he and the club are "sick of it".
Saturday night's 15-point loss to Collingwood extinguished any faint hopes the Suns had of sneaking into the top eight and playing finals football for the first time.
In the process, it did no favours for out-of-contract coach Rodney Eade who, along with the rest of the football department, is currently under review.
Lynch has been at Carrara since the club entered the AFL in 2011, and said inconsistency was still killing them.
"We're all frustrated, whether it's Ben Ainsworth who's just walked in or me, who's been here since the start," Lynch said.
"As a club we are frustrated and we are sick of it, but we've just got to keep training and putting ourselves in those situations in games and get it right.
"It's been going on for far too long, but we believe we're heading in the right direction and believe we will get there.
"We can't lose faith, we've got to stick tight and stick together."
Lynch went into bat for his embattled coach, saying all players were behind Eade and only had themselves to blame for the 6-10 win-loss record.
He said the Suns had proven their gameplan worked, but they just weren't doing it for long enough.
Things won't get any easier on Saturday either, when they face desperate premiers the Western Bulldogs in Cairns minus Lynch's fellow skipper Steven May.
May tweaked his hamstring against the Magpies and is expected to miss "one to two weeks".
"We'd love him to play this week but I doubt he'll be able to get up for it, which is a bit of a shame but it'll give another guy an opportunity," Lynch said.
"He's captain and a great player for us but we've dealt with injuries in the past."
After being named in the All Australian team last season, Lynch has kicked 37 goals to date this year and conceded his form mirrored that of his team.
"I think this season I've been a bit up and down," he said.
"I thought last year I was a bit more consistent and had a much better season last year which has been a bit frustrating for me."
