WE'VE all seen the Spider-Man meme, right? The one with two versions of the superhero shadowing each other's every move.

Gold Coast is likening Sunday's match against Greater Western Sydney to that exact meme, with Damien Hardwick confronting his former assistant Adam Kingsley in the coaches' box.

The Giants have showed more than a splash of Hardwick's Richmond game plan influence in the past year-plus, and the Suns are trying to implement a similar style.

They had wins against the Tigers and Adelaide to start the season, before a pre-bye loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Ahead of facing the competition pace-setting Giants, Gold Coast vice-captain Noah Anderson was not shy in telling AFL.com.au what he thought of the Suns' opponent.

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"We play very similar systems," Anderson said.

"They've had longer with it, so they've probably got more experience and know their roles really well and are really consistent with that.

"They're pretty much the benchmark of what we're trying to get to.

"We feel like when we bring our system and intent we can match it with them, but we haven't done that yet."

GWS thumped the Suns in a pre-season match in Canberra, piling on 11 consecutive goals at one stage before easing up to win 44 points.

At Mount Barker the teams will be completely different, with Hardwick unleashing debutants Ethan Read, Will Graham and Sam Clohesy among at least six changes.

Alongside co-captains Jarrod Witts and Touk Miller, and clearance king Matt Rowell, Anderson said he looked forward to the midfield match-up with the Giants.

"They touched us up in the practise match early in the year.

"They're one of the best teams in the competition, no doubt.

"They're the line we're trying to get to, so it'd be nice to see the difference from six weeks ago to now.

'We feel like we've improved a lot in that time and it'd be really good to test it again."