Gary Ablett, Gold Coast's million-dollar man and the face of AFL expansion, could be sidelined for several weeks with a knee injury - but try telling coach Guy McKenna that's a bad thing.

Smiling in the face of another heavy defeat after his side's 70-point shellacking at the hands of Sydney, McKenna is renown for chalking up his side's now-customary beltings as a rite of passage for his youngsters.

They may well become better footballers for the school of hard knocks that 2011 is proving to be for the Suns, but not even the loss of his superstar captain and the massive ramifications it will bring could get him singing the blues.

"I'd almost see it as a positive," McKenna said.

"He's been so good and he's carried such a workload so what that would do is now allow us to play another young kid and spread the load and see who actually wants to put their hand up and stay the course.

"If there is a beauty about Gary missing a game for us that would be it.

"We get to see and expose another boy that wants to have a crack."

That might be McKenna's top priority at the moment after an embarrassing display from the Suns.

They were held to just 36 points - the lowest total score in Gold Coast's short history.

"Individually and collectively, we lost a bit of respect tonight," he said.

"You're not going to win games of footy with 39 (inside 50s). The spark wasn't quite there, with or without Gaz.

"There was probably half a dozen fellas who flew that flag tonight and that was disappointing.

"With such a young group if only six are putting their hand up, it makes it very, very difficult."

The Swans have injury concerns of their own after their trip to Metricon Stadium - but theirs came before the match had even started.

Veteran Jude Bolton was an eleventh-hour withdrawal after complaining of knee soreness in the pre-game warm-up.

"When Jude says that you really listen because he's such a tough nut," Sydney coach John Longmire said.

"That doesn't happen too often to a bloke like Jude.

"I'm hoping it's OK."

Longmire will find out if he is after scans on Monday - the same day that the Suns will discover Ablett's fate.

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