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Premiership winning former Geelong skipper Cameron Ling has poured the acid on the battling Gold Coast Suns and said the time had come for the club to perform or perish.
After rocketing into the AFL top eight with an upset 30-point win over Carlton in round four, there was renewed hope for the Suns.
But that has since tapered off as the club now sits in 14th spot with two wins and five losses - the most recent a 25-point loss to Collingwood.
The Suns are 14th on the ladder with just two wins in five games so far this season
Since the Gold Coast entered the competition in 2009 the highest the club has climbed the AFL ladder is a 12th placed finish in 2014 while the club has collected two wooden spoons and finished second last on three occasions.
The club has long struggled to not only attract talent, but retain it with players like Tom Lynch (Richmond), Charlie Dixon (Port Adelaide), Adam Saad (Essendon and now Carlton), Gary Ablett (Geelong), Dion Prestia (Richmond), Jaeger O'Meara (Hawthorn) and Steven May (Melbourne) walking out the door.
Ling said players needed to stop thinking Gold Coast contracts where just holiday packages where only the bare minimum is required or they faced becoming irrelevant.
Cameron Ling (right) has warned Suns players to start performing or risk becoming irrelevant
'I think on expectations it’s not a horrid start to the year,' Ling said on 7AFL's Al and Lingy podcast.
'But maybe I’m also guilty there of my expectations just being so low and so disappointed year after year that I only
