THERE wasn't steam coming out of Damien Hardwick's ears on Sunday night, but Gold Coast's coach was simmering following his team's eighth straight loss, this time at the hands of the Western Bulldogs.

The Suns led by six points at half-time at People First Stadium but were left to lament wayward goalkicking and a poor 10-minute patch in the third quarter that resulted in a nine-point defeat.

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Following a week in the spotlight after he'd declared his side's season "effectively over" last Saturday night - a statement he later apologised for - Hardwick wasn't his usual animated self on Sunday evening.

But he was still mightily disappointed his team couldn't capitalise on a glut of opportunities, labelling some of the mistakes as "very very frustrating".

"We won clearances (plus-eight) by a lot, we smacked them in contested ball (plus-18), we smacked them in tackles (plus-20), we smacked them in inside 50s (plus-10). We lose the game," Hardwick said.

"The game looks like a Suns game for 80 per cent. For 20 per cent, it comes out of reach.

"Credit to the Bulldogs, they defended quite well.

"We had shots on goal that we should have scored and didn't score.

"Our guys are paid to kick goals and unfortunately if you don't, it comes back to haunt you in a close game."

In the match-defining third quarter where the Bulldogs kicked five unanswered goals, the Suns missed multiple chances to hit back.

John Noble missed a gettable set shot, Christian Petracca missed on the run and debutant Caleb Lewis also missed.

Then there was usually reliable spearhead Ben King, who finished the night with an uncharacteristic 1.4.

Throw in some ill-disciplined free kicks in defensive 50 and some "blast" kicks straight to the opposition and Hardwick was biting his tongue.

"If you look at our last three home games (Hawthorn, Collingwood and the Bulldogs) ... we just haven't played our moments. That's our challenge," he said.

"You've got to take your opportunities when they present, because if you don't, the opposition will jump on them at some stage.

"Bont, he had a good game, but he had big moments. That's what we're looking for from our side.

"That's the challenge of going from good to great. We just haven't got there yet. It's my job to get them better."

The unexpected loss by Greater Western Sydney to Essendon on Sunday evening leaves Gold Coast just one win, plus percentage, outside the top 10.

Hardwick said his team is still united, despite the string of losses.

"I think our energy and our spirit and connection is in a relatively good place. We're just not winning games of footy," he said.

"Unfortunately, when expectations are a little bit higher, those people (media) will come for you. I'd rather be that than being irrelevant.

"It's the first time in the history of our organisation we've had a great deal of expectation on us, and we haven't lived up to it.

"We welcome it. We leant into it. We're going to learn from it. We'll bounce back from it."

Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge said any win was a welcome one, particularly on the road.

"It was a bit sketchy through that second quarter. We brought them back into the game," he said.

"To come in at half-time and settle, and to have a third quarter like we did was impressive by the boys. They held firm."

Beveridge said he was pleased with his team's ability to win the ball back in the front half of the ground.

"We lost a lot of the outcomes statistically, but the really crucial aspects of the game we managed to perform a little better than the Suns tonight through our ball use and decisions," he said.

He was particularly pleased with the game of Bailey Williams, who settled into a defensive role in the absence of Bailey Dale and finished with a team-high 29 disposals (at 86 per cent efficiency) and eight intercepts.