GOLD Coast coach Rhyce Shaw sees no signs of fatigue in his young team as they hit the final month of the home and away season in "as good a space as we've been all year".

The Suns have been the big improvers of 2026, winning their past five games to zoom into the top four ahead of a date with premiership fancy Melbourne in Mackay on Saturday night.

They've built the 6-2 record with a stack of first-year talent, including Ava Usher, Sunny Lappin and Georja Davies, who have played all eight games, Bronte Parker, Alannah Welsh and Lily Quigley (seven), Mikayla Nurse (six) and Dekota Baron (five).

Although Shaw says he's "mindful" of the cumulative playing load, he's seen nothing yet to suggest it's having a negative impact.

"It's hard to monitor fatigue when they're so full of energy each and every day," Shaw said following Gold Coast's main training session on Thursday.

"We've been on a journey all year, it's a great journey and we're loving every minute of it.

"We're mindful of that stuff, it is real. Young kids coming off not playing much footy. There's a big gap from the draft (December) until when we play (August). We are mindful of that."

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Usher had her past two years destroyed by knee injuries, while Parker also missed 2025 with a ruptured ACL.

"Our group's hungry," Shaw said.

"We're hitting this last month in as good a space as we've been all year and we're really looking to have a crack."

The Suns will likely get their stiffest examination of the season against a Demons outfit that has lost just once and is stacked with Tyla Hanks, Olivia Purcell and Kate Hore in their midfield.

Shaw said he backed his own trio of Charlie Rowbottom, co-captain Lucy Single and Maddy Brancatisano against anyone and was more interested in how his team played than what the opposition might throw up.

"We obviously know what the oppo do, but we back ourselves as much as we can," he said.

"We're a really strong outfit ourselves.

Maddy Brancatisano shrugs off Sophie Conway during round eight, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos

"We've been waiting for these moments. This is what we're here for.

"We respect Melbourne for what they do because they're a really, really good side, but we're going up there to play a brand of footy that has been really consistent this year.

"We've got high expectations as a group … this week is no different."