GOLD Coast recruit Karmichael Hunt will continue to find his feet as a defender this week with coach Guy McKenna naming him to start at full back against the Box Hill Hawks on Saturday.

McKenna had previously claimed Hunt would spend time in the midfield in his third game after debuting in attack against the Coburg Tigers, and playing down back against Frankston last week.

However, the rugby league convert will be given another opportunity to prove his worth as a defender when Gold Coast takes on the Hawks at Southport this weekend.

"I thought he did really well, a good and disciplined effort really, so we thought we'd give him another go to work further on his body control and positioning and apply a few lessons learned," assistant and defensive coach Shaun Hart told the club's website.

Hunt, who arrived in Australia from Europe in late May after completing a stint playing rugby union in France, was expected to play just three games this year before being rested and given time to develop his skills.

McKenna recently said that was no longer the case.

"His body suggests he could play a bit more footy and that's how he learns best," he said in the Gold Coast Bulletin last week.

"We think that's fine and K wants to do it. We were just guarded against his mental and physical fatigue, but he has put his hand up and says he feels really good.

"We have eight or nine games left and I'm not saying he will play all. We will be guided by the conditioning staff and K."

Hunt said on the Today show on Wednesday he was slowly starting to become more like an AFL player with the more training he got under his belt.

In other Gold Coast news, Victorian schoolboy Josh Toy has taken advantage of the holidays and been named in the unchanged side to play his third game for the club.

Toy has remained in Melbourne to finish his final year of schooling at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar and made his debut against the Tigers nearly three weeks ago.

Former Geelong premiership player Nathan Ablett has missed another chance to reclaim his spot in the side after recently battling a leg injury.

Despite Ablett's lull in form, McKenna said there was still a chance the 32-game player could earn a contract for Gold Coast's first year.

"Unlike Karmichael, who we have three years to judge, with Nathan we need to judge him this year and he needs to display to us the reasons why he should be on our list," he said.

"He will obtain that contract by his work rate, his intensity and ultimately his form ... and we have the whole year to make an assessment on that.

"Just because he is out of the side at the moment for the reasons mentioned, everyone jumps on the bandwagon.

"We will assess him for the year, the same as Mitch Harley, Todd Grayson, Matt Fowler and the other boys that want to join the club."