WHEN Mac Andrew was thrust forward against Sydney in Gather Round, he learnt a valuable lesson.

Pitted against Swans full-back Tom McCartin, Gold Coast's supremely talented 22-year-old realised he was a bit off the pace.

"The intensity he played with, I was like 'Far out, that's something I could really bring to my game as a defender'," Andrew told AFL.com.au.

"He didn't give me an inch of space and that's something I really admired while playing him and feel like that's something I've tried to implement in my game since.

"The intensity he went at was 100 per cent all the time. It showed there was a bit of a gap to where I could improve my game."

In the past three weeks since Damien Hardwick returned him to his key defensive post, while still taking some centre ball-ups in the ruck, Andrew has played some of his best football for the Suns.

He's quietened his direct opponents and also found a balance to work off them, racking up 20 disposals or more in each contest.

"I think I've minimised the gap between my best and my worse. My worst probably isn't as bad as it used to be," Andrew said.

"I'm just trying to maintain consistency.

"I've been happy with my season so far, but I've still got another level to go to."

Andrew's 2026 has been a microcosm of his 74-game career to date – lots of highlights and positive impact mixed with a few brain explosions and questions around whether he'd reach his enormous potential.

Now into his fifth season, the No.5 draft pick admits he hasn't always the most professional athlete away from the field, but it's something he's been rectifying.

"You come in and nobody knows the answers to everything straight away and over the years you find out where you need to improve," he said.

"The big part for me was probably my professionalism.

"I feel like I could always play and always had talent, but I probably wasn't the hardest-working person. I relied on my talent and ability to get me through, whereas now I've seen the other side to it and I feel like it's paid off for me. 

"I've tried to knuckle down on everything I do away from footy to help me be the best player I can be."

That's meant working on everything from aerial contests to ground balls on the field to his diet, recovery and how to balance his life off it.

"I was always on my phone seeing Instagram and Tiktok, so just switching off from social media has been important," he said.

"I don't have a cap (time limit) but I feel like you can control what you read into.

"I just try to maintain a good, balanced lifestyle so that when I come here I'm not burnt out and can give 100 per cent."

Although there's a lot of areas that are works in progress, one part of Andrew's game that won't be going anywhere is his aggression.

In strife with Hardwick semi-regularly for giving away 50m penalties when an opponent gets under his skin, Andrew said he was still learning how to keep a cool head.

"I'm a bit of a sh*t talker and will always keep that a part of my game, but I feel like I've learnt to not feed into it as much," he said.

"It entertains the fans, but Dimma doesn't get too happy!

"It's a good part of the game. I feel like it's fun. A lot of players do it. I don't think there's anything bad about it, but the more I can regulate my emotions, the better."