DAMIEN Hardwick has put the onus on Gold Coast's midfield to lift ahead of playing the Western Bulldogs in Darwin on Saturday night.

The Suns were bullied by Brisbane around the ball last start, losing the clearance count by 19 and contested possessions by 22.

Speaking ahead of his team's main training session and flight to the Top End, Hardwick said the area of emphasis this week was simple.

"Contested ball and clearance just wasn't to the level that we pride ourselves in," he said.

"As a coaching group (we've got to be) stronger on the fundamentals, the understanding of the fundamentals and more importantly the execution of the fundamentals.

"We weren't good enough in that facet last week, we'll get to work this week."

Matt Rowell's incredible season has plateaued the past two weeks with quiet outings against Sydney and the Lions, while skipper Noah Anderson had less influence in the QClash and Sam Flanders has been up-and-down after his injury-interrupted pre-season.

"We've got to get some better performances from our midfield group, full stop," Hardwick said.

"Last week's game was not reflective of their season, unfortunately we were disappointing across our whole midfield group. We've got to lift.

"It's a great challenge to fight back against a side that has been very, very dominant over the last three to four weeks in that area."

Forward Ben Long, who missed last week with a tight hamstring, trained on Thursday, but is still in doubt to face the Bulldogs.