GREATER Western Sydney coach Adam Kingsley is adamant his team will be "fine" despite losing its fifth game from eight starts on Sunday night.

The Giants slipped to a 3-5 hole following a 20-point loss to Gold Coast, now two wins and a chunk of percentage behind the safety of the top six.

Last year's finalists weren't terrible against the Suns, but after a slow start were never really able to gain ascendency, plagued by turnovers and a work rate that was just off that of its opponents.

Kingsley was defiant following the match.

SUNS V GIANTS Full match details and stats

"We'll be ok. We'll be ok," he said.

"The reality is it's been an incredibly tough start to the season for us.

"We've had some players out and we haven't had players play together for many games.

"When we start to get a bit more synergy, we'll be fine."

The Giants are set for even more changes next Saturday against Essendon with young winger Ryan Angwin leaving the field during the third quarter with concussion.

Full-forward Jesse Hogan continued to battle his body, splitting the webbing in his hand and then landing heavily on an already sore hip, forcing Kingsley to manage his minutes during the second half.

Clayton Oliver (32 disposals) continued a strong first season, while Finn Callaghan threatened to take the game over at different stages.

Kingsley said his team's predicament after eight rounds was nothing new.

"We're not playing our best footy and that's understandable," he said.

"We haven’t been playing our best footy at this time of the year over the past four years. It's neither here nor there for me.

"There's been different things throughout the year we're continuing to work our way through. 

"We're looking to improve, and I'm sure we'll get that improvement pretty quickly."

Opposing coach Damien Hardwick got exactly the response he was looking for following three losses from Gold Coast's past four matches.

The Suns' pressure was evident from the opening minutes, with chase down tackles by key forwards Ben King and Jamarra Ugle-Hagan that led directly to goals indicative of the home team's hunger.

"I thought it was a mature performance," Hardwick said.

"It was gritty, not necessarily pretty. 

"Sometimes they're the games you need to win, which was great."

The Suns won without Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell, who missed with an ankle injury, with Hardwick saying he was "probable" to face St Kilda in Darwin next Saturday night.

"He'll probably train on Wednesday and then we’ll have a better understanding," he said.

"We want to make sure when he’s right to go he’s right to go. He’ll give himself his best chance, but we’ve got to be mindful sometimes to give the players the best chance to play long-term."