Their 2019 AFL season has ended with a wooden spoon and 18-straight defeats but Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew is adamant that doesn’t tell the real story of where the Suns are at.

Jeremy Cameron’s nine-goal haul to secure the Coleman Medal was the highlight as GWS claimed a 72-point win over the Suns at Metricon Stadium on Saturday in front of just 7610 fans.

While a season which started with three wins from the first four matches has ended in a whimper, Dew remained hopeful the building blocks for future success have been put in place.

“A lot of the guys have had career-best years – some may argue comparing to what – but a lot of them we’re comparing to their second or third years,” Dew said.

“They’re starting to get going … Darcy Macpherson’s gone from a forward pocket NEAFL player to an AFL player. Jack (Lukosius) and Ben (King) obviously their first year and Charlie Ballard is a second-year player.

“There’s so much there on an individual level now the work’s ahead of us to get that synergy, make sure we can keep that group playing as much football together as possible.

“We knew at the start of the year the win-loss may not be a true reflection of where we’re at. All our job is – the club and the players – is understanding where have we made our gains and how that’s going to hold us in good stead.”

The emergence of King as a promising key forward option was one area that Dew emphasised.

While Cameron was stealing the headlines for the opposition in his 150th match, 18-year-old King booted three goals for the Suns to take his tally to 17 majors from 14 appearances in his debut season.

“Kingy, since he’s come in, he’s presented really well … he works really hard,” Dew said.

“It was Jeremy’s 150th tonight and I think Kingy’s in about his 13th. I look forward to seeing his journey from where he’s at to 150 and beyond.”