Geelong great Cameron Ling’s blistering message for underperforming Suns players: ‘Start winning or end your career as an irrelevant nobody’ The Gold Coast Suns have never finished an AFL season higher than 12th Premiership winning Geelong skipper Cameron Ling has had enough He has warned the players they will become irrelevant if they keep losing It comes after the Suns slumped to 14th spot after losing to Collingwood By Josh Alston For Daily Mail Australia Published: 08:09 BST, 2 May 2022 | Updated: 08:09 BST, 2 May 2022 Viewcomments 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 set them low expectations. Perhaps they need to be higher. 'Relevance comes from winning and being a great team. How many years ago was it - seven, eight, nine - the Brisbane Lions were spoken about as irrelevant, no one wants to go there,' he said. Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew is under pressure to turn his team's fortunes around 'Well, they built relevance by becoming a really great team […] they’re relevant because they play exciting, great footy. There’s only one way to relevance and it’s time for the players to actually realise that.' 'Don't just go up there and think I'm gonna get a four-five year nice deal and get 25 touches a game and think I'm going okay. 'It's time to start winning […] if you don't start winning, you will end your career as an irrelevant nobody. That’s where the penny’s got to drop,' Nick Holman of the Suns looks dejected after the loss to Collingwood on Sunday Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall also blasted the Suns soft defence in their clash against Collingwood that allowed Jack Ginnivan to score the easiest of goals. 'If I’m Stuart Dew I’m saying please write me down the names of those players who had opportunities to tackle. He just danced through three insipid tackles,' he said. 'First one probably the hardest one changing direction, the next two just horrible efforts.' However St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt recently said that the Suns are one of a handful of AFL clubs that had moved away from the control game this season to embrace a more attacking style. Josh Jenkins questions Gold Coast's list management off the back of Wright, Brodie and Lyons leaving the Suns and succeeding at other clubs. pic.twitter.com/FA9Fuq7XKS — Andy & Gazey (@TheRunHomeSEN) April 11, 2022 Under this change, the Suns have slumped from third in marks in 2021 to 18th in 2022, but have surged to first in kick long percentage, kick forward percentage, corridor use from defensive 50 and time in forward half. It is a dramatic change that may take time to reap rewards. 'We know Geelong have moved away from the control game, we know Collingwood have moved away from controlling the ball at all costs – and these are the numbers that reflect that,' Riewoldt told Fox Footy’s On the Couch. 'They’re taking the game on more, they’re not concerned about kick-mark and take time off the opposition – and I think it’s good. I think that’s the way the game’s gone and it’s probably taken a few years longer than we all would’ve expected for this amount of sides to jump on.' Read more: Share or comment on this article: All rights reserved for this news site (dailymail) and under his responsibility