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Little might appear to be on the line for cellar dwellers the Gold Coast in the final fortnight of their AFL debut season.
But the Suns’ 14 off-contract players will have everything to play for, Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna has warned.
On paper, a showdown with the equally-disappointing Melbourne and a potential blowout at the hands of Hawthorn in the next two weeks don’t quite set hearts pumping.
However, McKenna said they loomed as the most important of some of his roster’s careers.
The Suns can cut up to eight players ahead of next season – and McKenna said his 2012 list was far from decided.
“From a club point of view, there’s nothing much to gain but, individually and collectively, there’s a lot for some players,” he said.
“If they choose to drop off, we’ll soon understand that when things get tough, he’s probably a player we don’t need on our list and that’s what we’ll find out over the next two weeks.
“There’s two opportunities to tick the box, cross the box or still have a question mark there.
“Then we’ll sit down with (list manager) Scott (Clayton) and the match committee and work out who is here.”
To ram home his point, McKenna added: “If you get your opportunity, it’s all about taking it.”
The stage could not be bigger for Suns’ hopefuls with Gold Coast set to play their first game at the MCG against the Demons on Saturday.
But McKenna was not cutting his youngsters any slack with contracts on the line.
“I think every game has been a huge challenge for (the young players),” he said.
“We want to know that our season ends in two weeks, not after five or 10 minutes of a spirited effort against Melbourne at the MCG.
“We want to make sure our finish line is round 24 – we want to hit that tape with some confidence.”
McKenna said No.7 2010 Draft pick Josh Caddy was “a very big chance” to run out at the MCG and make his AFL debut after overcoming a foot injury.
However, veteran ruckman Josh Fraser had not recovered from illness after losing 5kg while playing Adelaide last round.
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