Since their insipid AFL loss to Melbourne in round one, Gold Coast's players had promised they wouldn't produce a repeat display against St Kilda.
And they didn't. They produced something worse.
Up against a hungry and energy-packed Saints at Metricon Stadium on Saturday, the Suns wilted to slip to a 16.8 (104) to 10.16 (76) loss and a 0-2 start to their season.
The 28-point defeat was punctuated by a miserable second-quarter display during which a rampant Saints - many people's tip for this year's wooden spoon - booted eight goals to one.
In a late rally by the Suns in the final quarter, they booted five straight goals but that put a gloss on an otherwise disappointing display.
Defender-cum-forward Josh Bruce was sensational for the visitors, marking everything that came his way and kicking a career-high six goals, including four in the second term.
Ahmed Saad, who hadn't kicked a goal in nearly two years, booted two in the first half while the inspirational Bruce set up Jack Sinclair for the first goal of his AFL career.
Sinclair ended the match with two goals as did skipper Nick Riewoldt, while returning forward Tom Lynch booted three majors in an up-and-down display and midfielder Dion Prestia had two goals.
As good as the Saints were, the Suns were largely architects of their own downfall.
The hosts conceded four 50m penalties in the first half, including back-to-back indiscretions which allowed Riewoldt to march 100m downfield for the easiest of goals.
The bad news deepened for the Suns with Jarrod Harbrow, playing his 150th AFL match, subbed off at halftime with a left shoulder injury.
The former Western Bulldog will undergo scans on Monday to determine the extent of any damage.
The Saints also didn't escape without casualty, with Saad subbed off in the third quarter after suffering a concussion.
Suns coach Rodney Eade said Saturday's effort improved on the loss to the Demons for three of the four quarters but the poor discipline and some basic skill errors had undermined that effort.
"I was pleased how we bounced back after halftime but that second quarter, not through effort I don't think, it was just horrific, the way we used the ball and a lot of basic errors," he said.
"Handballed too much. Missed goals when we got an opportunity.
"There's some things there we need to change, not only game plan, but some things that I'd been told about before I got here.
"The skill level has been bad. We've worked heavily on it over the summer but we just need to keep working on it."
Saints coach Alan Richardson praised his team's effort to force the Suns to commit those skill errors.
"I was delighted with our pressure," Richardson said.
"You look for perfection as a coach so we did speak about the fact that they got right on top in clearances late in the game.
"But I thought for a big part of the game we were really strong in terms of putting pressure on."
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