IT'S NOT quite Mission Impossible, but St Kilda faces one of the toughest tests in the AFL on Saturday night when it plays the Top End Tormenters, Gold Coast, in Darwin.

The Suns have been unbeatable since taking home games north in 2022, recording a perfect eight from eight in the win column with an average margin of 39 points.

Whether it's physical, or mental, or more than likely a bit of both, Gold Coast feels comfortable at TIO Stadium and the results have followed.

In 2022 it started the run with a couple of comprehensive blowouts of struggling Hawthorn and North Melbourne.

The next year things were much tougher against two teams that narrowly missed the top eight.

A rookie Bailey Humphrey kicked a late goal to close out a seven-point win over the Western Bulldogs before the Suns unleashed a furious fightback to steamroll Adelaide by 25 points following a brilliant second half.

In 2024, it was more of the same, with Damien Hardwick experiencing big wins over the Kangaroos and more surprisingly Geelong (64 points) in his first year in the NT.

Last year saw two of the best games of the season, with the Suns narrowly prevailing over the Bulldogs (10 points) and Hawks (eight points) in high-scoring shootouts.

Again, conditions are expected to be hot and humid when the Saints have their shot at springing an upset with Saturday's temperature projected to top out at 33 degrees.

One advantage Gold Coast regularly has is the support of the locals, with Daniel Rioli, Ben Long and Joel Jeffrey all born and raised in the Territory.

Rioli said knowing the venue as individuals, and now as a team, was a bonus for the Suns.

"It's been a bit of a fortress going up to Darwin," he said. "We've had a good record there. 

"The Gold Coast boys training up here in the heat most of the time, we're pretty accustomed to that environment, so I think we'll be OK.

"We have St Kilda and Port Adelaide (on May 15) who are going pretty well. It doesn't matter about the record, we'll go up there and compete as hard as we can."

There's also a couple of player records set to go down.

Sam Collins will become the outright leader of games played at the venue, when he runs out for an 11th time, surpassing Port Adelaide duo Kane Cornes and Danyle Pearce (10).

Ben King is poised to surpass former Bulldog great Brad Johnson as the top goalkicker at the ground, with the pair currently level on 17 goals apiece.

This is the final year of Gold Coast's current agreement with the Northern Territory Government to play games in the capital city.