Suns set to unveil their future

GOLD Coast will pick up to a dozen of its untried youngsters when it makes its NAB Cup debut in western Sydney this weekend.

Coach Guy McKenna said the eight uncontracted players lured from other club, including captain Gary Ablett and Campbell Brown, "basically pick themselves".

They would almost certainly be joined by four other players with senior experience - Danny Stanley, Sam Iles, Daniel Harris and Michael Coad - while NRL convert Karmichael Hunt and Geelong premiership player Nathan Ablett would be assessed by fitness staff.

McKenna said Stanley, Iles, Harris and Coad "aren't walk-up starts but with their experience and size of their bodies they're a better than average chance of getting in.

"Then it's really the kids that have shown enough in the pre-season, which is no different to other clubs."

McKenna said the Suns' pre-season had been complicated by the extreme weather that had affected Queensland over the summer, with many of the skills sessions forced indoors.

Coaching staff had to "get creative" to ensure crucial sessions were not lost completely while trying to minimise the effects of training on hard indoor floors.

"It's obviously been different. I would have thought we've been batting at about 90 per cent as far as training days, and for a young group that's not ideal," he told afl.com.au.

"We're not making excuses but we've had to train at the beach in the soft sand because we had to spend so many days indoors on the hard surfaces.

"The boys have been pushed hard and we've cracked a few eggs in the process but I don't think we've broken anyone."

The Suns' list has an average age of 21 years and 58 days and only 14 players over the age of 22, while just 12 have AFL experience.

McKenna said he remained confident in the group's skills despite the missed sessions.

"Not being big headed about it, but most of our kids are technically okay because of the draft picks and things like that," he said.

"You wouldn't want to have three or four pre-seasons where you can't get on the ovals because they're flooded.

"The boys have noticed the difference between a VFL and AFL pre-season, and we’re coming good at the right time as far as getting our players back on the track. We couldn't be happier."