RODNEY Eade has put the spotlight squarely on the umpires ahead of Gold Coast's match against Collingwood on Saturday, saying he fully expects Magpies spearhead Travis Cloke to get preferential treatment.

Cloke's relationship with the umpires has been a big talking point all week following Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley's claim the hulking full forward "gets nothing" from the whistleblowers. 

When asked on Friday whether he thought Buckley's claims would influence officiating for Saturday's game at Metricon Stadium, Eade was succinct.

"Yeah I do, because the squeakiest wheel gets the most oil," Eade said. 

"I know from experience you do that, you get a spike, that's not consciously, that's just the way of the world."

Adding to Eade's concern is the fact he has two undersized, inexperienced players at the key defensive posts.

Henry Schade (196cm, 86kg, three games) will likely get the start on Cloke, while Jack Leslie (198cm, 94kg, three games) is a second option in the absence of suspended Steven May and injured Rory Thompson.

Cloke stands 196cm, weighs in at 108kg and has 223 games experience. 

"We've got to be careful again because a few of our players are undersized," Eade said.

"We've got to have support from other players around, get a third man in. Players have got to be prepared to leave their opponent to support. 

"It's really a big ask for them." 

Eade, who was the coaching director at Collingwood for three years before taking over the reigns at the Suns, said he was impressed with the Magpies so far in 2015. 

"They've probably only had a couple of down games, so I think they've been pretty consistent," he said.

"I think they've had a better run with injuries (than last year), which has helped them. 

"They're probably playing a little bit differently at times, but most teams are tweaking things … it's not anything major."

Eade said the return of Tom Lynch and Adam Saad from injury would add leadership and pace to the Suns line-up.