There's light at the end of the tunnel for the Gold Coast Suns - and coach Stuart Dew can see it shining from the other side of the Pacific Motorway.
Dew believes there's plenty the AFL battlers can take from the rise of their closest rivals Brisbane under Chris Fagan.
The Suns host the Lions in Q-Clash 16 on Saturday night and while they've both won the same amount of games this season, the outlook is much rosier for one of the Queensland sides.
Things have clicked into place for Brisbane, with their latest crop of draftees and a new-look football department led by Fagan breathing new life into the club.
But it wasn't long ago that they were in the same sticky situation as Gold Coast - losing games heavily, battling to retain their established stars and fighting to prove their relevance in the AFL landscape.
Rookie coach Dew said he was watching and learning.
"I can absolutely learn a lot from Fages as an individual," Dew told reporters on Wednesday.
"I know Chris would be working really hard on the environment at the footy club which you hope turns into wins.
"They're 12 months advanced from what we are in terms of embedding that environment so we're certainly working on the foundation of that... (but their success) gives you a bit of hope.
"Also things like the Bulldogs going from where they went to winning (a flag), Richmond 13th to winning (a flag), that gives you hope as well."
Fagan was in Dew's shoes last season as a first-year senior coach and said he knew exactly how he'd be feeling.
"I know I learned an enormous amount and I felt like I was better positioned after having that 12-month experience to drive the improvement forward," he said.
"It's just natural thing for humans, you just need to have time together to work out what really needs to happen and he'll be so much better for that next year.
"I'm sure both Queensland clubs are going to do well into the future. We just have to be a bit patient for the time being."
The Lions currently have the edge in the Q-Clash, having won nine of 15 meetings with the Suns - though they lost the last encounter by five points at the Gabba back in round five.
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