GOLD Coast coach Damien Hardwick says it’s up to him to find a better use of Christian Petracca following a third straight quiet game from the Norm Smith medallist on Saturday.

Petracca had just 12 disposals in the 42-point loss to Brisbane, following 14 against Greater Western Sydney and 16 against Melbourne.

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He’s been goalless in the past four games.

Hardwick agreed it had been a “downturn in form” from a man that had a blazing first half of the season for his new club, but said responsibility lay with him to find a solution.

“I've got to find how I can best use him,” Hardwick said. “That's up to me to figure it out."

“We've had some really good conversations, and he will do whatever I want for the benefit of the team.

“That's a great thing about Christian. He's a guy that has come from a background in Melbourne where he’s the best player, Norm Smith medallist … and what I want from Christian is a little bit different up here.

“His legacy to me is to help us change the fortunes of the Gold Coast Suns, and he's pulling his part in that.

“And I've got to get better at utilising him to his absolute strength. I haven't found that right lever yet.”

In the midst of Gold Coast’s recent 10-game losing streak, Hardwick moved Petracca from a primarily midfield role to be stationed in the front half of the ground almost full-time.

As a result Touk Miller has been pushed on-ball to add some defensive balance, where he again excelled by keeping Lachie Neale to just 17 disposals against the Lions, with Bailey Humphrey also getting more midfield minutes.

“We're really after some scoreboard impact, and that was challenging,” Hardwick said.

“Going up against one of the best sides in the competition tonight and last week we're playing in horrific conditions, so the last two weeks have been tough.

“Once again, I can help him out, and I think we can help him out a little bit more as well.”

Petracca was only a small piece of the Suns’ problems against Brisbane, as they wasted opportunities in front of goal and in general play despite doing a lot of the grunt work well.

“Inside 50s win (52-45), clearances win (35-30), pre-clearance contested possession win, post-clearance contested possession win. You know what they won? Polish,” Hardwick said.

“They're just more polished. That was it in a nutshell.

“I thought we had really, really good opportunities to score. We just made it look hard, and they're cleaner and more polished side at the moment, and they got better results going inside 50.”

The win was the perfect end to Chris Fagan’s week as he celebrated coaching Brisbane for a record 238th time.

Although a ninth win from their past 10 games wasn’t the cleanest, it showed the type of grit Fagan said would be crucial comes finals time.

“The margin was 42 points, but it felt a tough game all night, to be honest, and it was on their terms in the first half,” he said.

“I liked that we didn't get the game played the way we wanted and were still able to win though.

“We didn't play great ourselves. We just had to grind away, and we just found a way to a do it.

“You're never going to get it all on your terms, so it was good for us to be able to work through it and find a way to win tonight. That’s all good preparation for sure.”

Brisbane plays Collingwood at the MCG on Friday night, where a win would guarantee a spot in the top four.