GOLD Coast coach Stuart Dew has spoken of the "tough" decision to drop Mabior Chol, saying he still believes the tall forward is in the Suns' top 22 when playing his best.

Fresh off a breakout 44-goal campaign in 2022, Chol was given just the opening round against Sydney before being omitted ahead of last Sunday's loss to Essendon.

MEDICAL ROOM Check out the full injury list

Dew instead opted for Ben King, Levi Casboult, Joel Jeffrey and Jack Lukosius to lead the tall forward attack in the 28-point loss.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's match against Geelong at Heritage Bank Stadium, Dew said It was a "difficult conversation" with the 26-year-old.

"The message was about contributing, not just in a goal sense, but how can he bring others into the game," Dew said.

"It was a tough call. Mabior took it fantastic, he trained really well and played all right in the VFL.

"We think when he's at his absolute best he's in our best 22. We did feel like he did need a little reset."

Chol kicked three goals at the lower level last weekend, with the coach praising his attitude.

It does appear, however, that he will again play in the VFL after the Suns forwards created plenty of scoring opportunities against the Bombers.

King and Casboult kicked two goals apiece, while Lukosius and Jeffrey added one each from multiple scoring shots.

"The message is we can have some accountability on performance in regards to key forwards," Dew said.

"It looked a lot better on the weekend and we did limit Essendon's rebound from (defensive) 50 to inside 50.

STREAM YOUR TEAM Watch every VFL, SANFL and WAFL game LIVE

"We certainly felt like the forwards performed a lot better."

Sunday's match against the Cats will mark the 200th game for inaugural No.1 draft pick David Swallow, as he becomes the first man in Gold Coast history to reach that milestone.