New Gold Coast Suns skipper Noah Anderson has bluntly admitted that his club wasn't ready to take the next step last season.
Despite the Suns enjoying their most successful season ever in terms of wins in 2024, the wait for a maiden finals appearance for the league's second-youngest side stretched to 15 years as the club struggled to win away from home.
The Suns won all but two home games in its first season under new coach Damien Hardwick but drew criticism at their inability to win away from their home venues, with their only victories away from Queensland and their adopted home in Darwin coming in Rounds 22 and 24 against Essendon and Richmond respectively when all teams were out of finals contention.
While being able to record impressive wins at home including big wins against eventual finalists Hawthorn and Port Adelaide and holding off a barnstorming Collingwood outfit, Anderson lamented his side's incapability to handle the high-pressure moments while implementing their new game plan on the run.
"Last year when 'Dimma' came with his new game plan, it was very fresh and it took us a while to get our heads around it," Anderson told Zero Hanger.
"When we faced those high-pressure moments, we didn't necessarily have the answers as a playing group.
"I think that's where the growth is going to come for us.
"When we're in those tough situations, away from home, the playing group has to be ready to respond in real-time. I think we've prepared a lot for that over the off-season and that's where our biggest growth will be."
Hardwick infamously declared in his post-game press conference following the four-point loss to North Melbourne last year that the club needed to "grow the f*** up".
Anderson said the playing group had heeded the coach's message during the off-season, with the 24-year-old confident that the maturity of the group will grow from the experience of being in those tough situations.
They were experiences that Anderson believes have the group best placed and primed to break its finals drought this season.
"Last year we weren't ready as much as I wish we were and as much as the playing group and the whole organisation wishes we were," he said.
"We want to be successful right now. As a footy club, we had to go through those losses, we had to go through those disappointing away trips where everyone was expecting us to win, and we didn't.
"We simply weren't ready. We're putting in a mountain of work. I see it every day. We've had a really good pre-season and moving in the right direction.
"I'm extremely confident the results will come in the future."
The Suns begin their 2025 campaign when they face Essendon in Opening Round on Saturday, March 8.
