Gold Coast defender Trent McKenzie appears to have a lot to do to impress coach Rodney Eade after being axed from the Suns line-up.

McKenzie, along with Dan Gorringe and suspended Matt Shaw, has been omitted from the Suns team to play St Kilda on Saturday following last week’s disappointing AFL loss to Melbourne.

Eade says McKenzie’s form had been poor for a while, and he decided to make a statement by dropping him.

Seb Tape, Sean Lemmens and tall forward Tom Lynch have been included to add competitiveness to the Suns.