RETURNING to senior football will do a world of good for troubled Gold Coast midfielder Harley Bennell, but coach Rodney Eade says he's still got a long way to go.

The 22-year-old has endured a wretched fortnight after photos of him allegedly taking drugs were published on the front pages of newspapers around the country.

Five talking points: Adelaide v Gold Coast

He played in the NEAFL last weekend and in his return to the AFL against Adelaide on Saturday collected 39 possessions and drove the ball inside 50 on nine occasions.

Eade commended Bennell’s mental strength, but when asked if the midfielder had played the 'team first’ game wanted from him the coach's praise was measured.

"Most of the time … there's still some edges, which most players were probably guilty of that today," Eade said.

"He got a lot of the ball, there are still parts of his game that he's got to improve.

"We need to coach that; he's a really good kick and he tried to drill the ball like (Nick) Malceski did in the second quarter and guys who are good kicks try to do the ‘Hail Mary’ (pass), which actually cost us.

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"For the couple of weeks that he's had, to be able to come back and win as much of the ball as he did and work as hard as he did it was really pleasing.

"He knows where he's at, he knows what he's got to do, he knows how hard he's got to work."

Gold Coast's forwards Charlie Dixon and Tom Lynch were in ominous form early, with five first-half goals and 10 marks.

But the Suns weren't able to generate the scoring opportunities required to win, with Eade conceding his side badly lacked midfield run.

The loss of Gary Ablett to a likely season-ending knee injury in the first term meant life was always going to be difficult, although Eade insisted his side had progressed from being dependent on the superstar.

"He's our key player, there's no doubt, there's no doubt he has an influence on our performance and he has an influence on the result," he said.

"But I think we have gone past [being reliant on Ablett] even though the results aren't there.

"The number of players we've got out [injured] and the way we're going about it, I couldn't be more pleased.

"For the third week in a row we struggled because of our lack of run in the midfield – with a lack of numbers there – but the effort was there."