Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick says the Suns aren’t yet entitled to regard themselves among the “very best sides” in the AFL due to their lack of consistency.

The Suns, who played finals football for the first time last season, were touted as genuine contenders for the 2026 premiership after adding former Melbourne star Christian Petracca to their squad.

And three successive wins to start the new season heightened expectations that the Suns were indeed the real deal.

However, consecutive away losses to Sydney and Melbourne has Hardwick demanding “redemption” when the Suns host Essendon at People First Stadium on Saturday.

“The very best sides play a consistent brand of football and we’re not there yet,” the Suns mentor said.

“Melbourne were terrific, and Sydney were as good as I’ve seen this year, so we’ve certainly learnt some lessons from that and looking forward to a bit of redemption this week, and playing our best football.

“We look at our contested ball numbers the last couple of weeks, (and) granted, those two sides in Melbourne and Sydney played an outstanding contest-pressured game, but we’re more than capable of playing that way as well, and doing it hopefully at a more consistent basis moving forward because it’s probably a little bit below our standards as compared to what we’re used to.

“The game has been built on the back of contests and fundamentals for 150-odd years, and we’re just not executing to the level.”

The Suns will have to win without skipper Noah Anderson, who is sidelined after having surgery on Monday to remove his appendix.

However, they will be boosted by the return of Petracca from a hamstring injury and Bailey Humphrey from suspension.

“When the captain goes out, he’s obviously very hard to replace, but bringing in two magnets like Petracca and Humphrey … (it) allows you to change the magnets a bit more,” Hardwick said.

“We know when those two play, they’re dynamic and they feed off each other.

“They’ll go more through the midfield as well, which is exciting for us and our fans. and we know they’re high-contest, high-pressure players, so it’s going to make our midfield stronger.

“We have got some magnets now in place that allow us to play a more sustainable brand of football through that middle part of the ground.

“The last couple of weeks haven’t been to the level that we normally expect from this side. I’ve got no doubt (the players) will respond.”

Originally published as Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick challenges Suns to show consistency