Consistency key to any Suns AFL finals bid On the cusp of the top eight midway through the AFL season, it's the question everyone is asking Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna. Can the previously unheralded expansion outfit make this year's finals? The Suns backed up their recent good showings on the road to Hawthorn and Geelong with a gutsy 15-point home win over North Melbourne on Saturday. Overcoming a 25-point first-quarter deficit, managing just one point in the opening term, the Suns held the Kangaroos scoreless for 49 minutes before eventually sealing a 9.12 (66) to 8.3 (51) victory at a rain-lashed Metricon Stadium. The win lifts the Suns to a 5-6 record, just one game outside the top eight, but McKenna knows better can yet be produced by his team. Finding an ability to avoid poor quarters such as the opener against the Roos or final-term fadeouts against top sides such as the Hawks and Cats will be key to the Suns' fortunes. Do that, and McKenna says September footy could be his team's reward. "That's where you get the belief from, to know that these boys can start to back up solid, consistent AFL footy," McKenna said. That's what we're after. Now, as I said, the end result is the F-word but we've got a long way to go before that. We've got another tough game next week against Essendon. We go into the bye, we reload, we get some players back and then we've got a second half of the season. (Finals) are a long way away. Our immediate aim is to play that consistent brand of four-quarter footy. Kangaroos coach Brad Scott is certainly seeking consistency across a whole game from his outfit. Saturday's loss was the sixth time in seven defeats this season the Roos have led at quarter-time but come up empty by the final siren. It leaves North sitting two wins outside the eight on 4-7 as they enter the bye and Scott isn't even considering his team's finals fortunes at this stage. "Not an issue for me," he responded when asked if he was worried if his team's finals hopes were gone. That's so far into the future. We've got to start playing footy that's worthy of that. I'll leave that for the Gold Coast Bulletin to talk about with the Suns.