GOLD Coast got Christian Petracca in the off-season, and somehow its midfield is worse.

Despite the 2021 Norm Smith Medal winner playing as well as he has in five years, the Suns are ranked in the bottom three in the AFL for centre clearance differential.

It's hard to fathom, yet this is just one problem facing Damien Hardwick as his team addresses a rocky past month.

How to get the best out of a centre-square rotation that includes Jarrod Witts, Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell and skipper Noah Anderson is at the head of the queue, but patching a leaky defence and capitalising on forward entries isn't far behind.

Following a blistering 3-0 start to the season, Gold Coast has cratered in the past month, bookending a narrow win over Essendon with losses against Melbourne, Sydney and Hawthorn.

Only seven matches into a 23-game home-and-away season, it's hardly time to panic, but Hardwick has a handful of flashing red lights alerting him to potential long-term danger.

The star-studded midfield is, as a collective, not firing.

Saturday's loss to Hawthorn was the first time Anderson, Rowell and Petracca had played together, but the results were the same as previous weeks.

Gold Coast is ranked 16th for clearance differential, ahead of only Essendon and upcoming opponent Greater Western Sydney, and 16th for centre clearance differential, a stat that is more crucial than ever with the new ruck rules and existing 6-6-6 set-up.

Hardwick knew his team had to evolve following last season's semi-final loss to Brisbane.

In the pre-season he moved Wil Powell into the midfield in the hope of adding a defensive element to a wonderful group of ball-hunting, attacking players.

Powell hanging back defensively and Touk Miller locking up that half-forward line with his power running and intent to tackle seemed a good way of surrounding Anderson, Rowell, Petracca and Bailey Humphrey.

But as has happened with many of the 2026 moves, relocating Powell has been a 'rob Peter to pay Paul' scenario. He was the team's designated lockdown defender last year and was deployed back to the role on Saturday to go with Nick Watson.

Where is Powell best used? If it's no longer on-ball, it might be time for Miller, or even Will Graham, to spend more time in the middle to balance things the way Hardwick has envisaged.

The struggle for midfield cohesion has been part of the reason Gold Coast has conceded 100 points in four straight matches. Quite clearly, that is not a recipe for success.

The confusion over positions extends well beyond Powell.

While many in the AFL world were losing their minds over the Suns acquiring five Academy graduates at last year's Telstra AFL Draft, there were consequences.

As part of garnering the necessary points to draft its new arrivals, Gold Coast waved farewell to Sam Flanders, Ben Ainsworth, Brayden Fiorini, Connor Budarick and Malcolm Rosas jnr via trade. The first four in that list were all experienced, regular best-23 players who had helped the club to a historic first finals appearance.

Petracca and the high-upside-but-no-guarantee Jamarra Ugle-Hagan came in, but aside from that, the trades were a big bet on Gold Coast's youth and their potential.

Leo Lombard, in just his second season, has more responsibility. So does the 2023 draft crop of Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers and Will Graham. As does last year's No.2 pick, Zeke Uwland.

Read is another source of confusion.

Trained on the wing during the off-season, the 202cm aerobic beast played in his natural position as a key forward early in the year.

He blossomed, kicking four goals against Richmond in a breakout performance, only to be shuffled to a wing shortly after to accommodate Walter and then Ugle-Hagan in the forward line.

In theory, a tall winger that can run as well as anyone makes sense, but there's structure and patterns and a learning curve Read needs to go through for that role.

Should he be settled forward? Or should Hardwick persist with him and the younger Uwland on the flanks?

Following a blistering offensive start to the season, Gold Coast has averaged just 85 points in its past four matches, while still averaging a lofty 55 forward-50 entries.

Then there's Mac Andrew. Signed until the end of 2030 with a trigger for a further four seasons, Andrew has started slowly.

At first a key defensive sidekick to Sam Collins and then also alongside Charlie Ballard following his return after 12 months on the sidelines, Andrew has been a little out of sorts.

Thrown into the ruck against Sydney in Gather Round, he showed off his pogo-stick leap at centre bounces and played forward and as a back-up to Witts the following week, only to rejoin the defensive unit against the Hawks, where the 22-year-old played one of his best games of the young season.

Back? Or forward and ruck? He has the odd concentration issue, but Andrew has proven he is a good, if not yet great, defender given continuity in that spot.

We could look up in three weeks following wins over GWS, St Kilda and Port Adelaide and think the Suns are fine at 7-3 (this could also go the other way) and think everything is fine.

Hardwick says he always starts with the finish in mind, and while he doesn't need his premiership-winning team assembled in round eight, he needs to get a little closer and see a big uptick in production from players he has entrusted with great responsibility.

Where to play Powell, Miller, Graham, Read, Andrew and how much youth to play at once are all questions than need answering if the Suns are to take another step, or two or three, in 2026.