INJURIES aren't the reason Gold Coast lost to Essendon on Saturday night but Suns coach Guy McKenna concedes a restricted bench in the second half affected his side's ability to be "brave".
The Suns lost Tom Lynch in the second quarter to a knee injury, which was diagnosed post-match as posterior cruciate ligament damage sustained in a collision with Jake Melksham.
Midfielder Michael Rischitelli followed him to the bench in the third quarter after suffering an elbow injury McKenna later classified as "badly damaged".
Both will have scans when the team returns home but are set for a spell on the sidelines.
On top of that, Tom Murphy needed repeated treatment on a sore ankle early on and Joel Wilkinson had his foot looked at in the last quarter.
Despite being hampered by so many injuries, McKenna said the Suns' lack of composure in forward entries hurt them more in the 43-point loss.
"Ultimately the pain of having two boys on the bench … it made it difficult for us to be brave, if you like, in our running ability to break the lines," McKenna said.
"I thought when we did at times we looked really good and had a continuity of possessions, finishing off with a mark inside our forward 50, we were able to break their defensive wall if you like and we looked OK.
"When that run sort of dried up and we couldn't break their wall - they're very good defensively, Essendon, now - and they were able to hurt us back over our head.
"I don't think we played our best brand of football. I thought our use going inside forward 50, [we] probably went for the needle in the haystack kick too many times.
"There's a bit of resistance but when you go for that miracle kick inside the forward 50, that really hurts on the counterattack against a side that sits in the top four and rightly so."
Highlights included Jaeger O'Meara's 30 possessions in his 12th game and another effective curtailing job by Rory Thompson on Joe Daniher, who kicked three goals before the defender was moved onto him.
Daniher didn't kick another after half-time.
"I thought Rory Thompson's game tonight to shut him down … I think his season has been exceptional," McKenna said.
"I think Jonathan Brown opened him up in the QClash, kicked five goals on him but he's Jonathan Brown and it's probably expected in your third season of football.
"He's been super as a key defender at his age and what he confronts each week."
The Suns are hoping to get back Matthew Warnock (arm) after next week's bye while Nathan Bock will come into contention after playing his third NEAFL game on Sunday.
Jennifer Phelan is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenPhelan
