IZAK Rankine has the flash and Matt Rowell the profile, but this young Gold Coast midfielder might have as much upside as anyone on the Suns' talented list.

Noah Anderson quietly compiled a terrific rookie season, playing all 17 games and finishing second to Fremantle's Caleb Serong in the NAB AFL Rising Star award.

He's now put together an excellent second pre-season - arguably the most impressive of anyone at Carrara - and is set for prolonged minutes on the ball this year.

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Despite Rankine, Rowell and to a lesser extent Ben King grabbing the country's attention, Anderson told AFL.com.au that's just the way he liked it.

"It's kind of always been a thing," Anderson said.

"Matt's such a good player, but I just love only having to worry about footy and being able to relax off the field.

"The things that really drive me are teammate recognition and coach recognition and I got a lot of that last year.

"I feel like my teammates enjoy playing with me and my coaches have been recognising the hard work I've been putting in. That's all I need."

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The hard work extends off the field as much as on it.

Anderson was used predominantly as a wingman in his first season to capitalise on his powerful running and penetrating kick.

However, as the Suns drifted out of finals contention, coach Stuart Dew decided to give the 20-year-old more exposure around the contest.

He thrived, topping 20 disposals in five of his final six matches and averaging 10 contested possessions in that span.

Anderson said working with a couple of experienced teammates had played a big part in his development.

"The quicker I felt like I belonged at the club, the quicker I felt like I could play better footy and Touk (Miller) and Dave (Swallow) played a massive role in that," he said.

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"They're always so proactive in helping me out.

"Touk came and watched vision with me towards the backend of last year, and little things like that made a big difference.

"I'm just continuing to pick the brains of the older players in the group, just learning off Touk, Dave and Hugh Greenwood, they're so good with us young fellas."

Anderson is among the best five runners at the Suns, but it's his hands in tight that have impressed so much early this year.

The No.2 draft pick from 2019 stands 188cm tall and in time should be a perfect complement to Rowell, Miller and Greenwood at the coalface with his ability to both win a hard-ball and also jump clear from congestion.

Anderson said with his thirst for learning the intricacies of the role, his goals for 2021 were simple.

"I feel a lot more comfortable this year in pre-season games than I did last year," he said.

"That's just through experience and spending more time there.

"I feel like I've been pretty proactive with learning and putting myself in the deep end in training and rapidly improving to now where I feel pretty comfortable playing inside.

"I've got a lot of my game to develop but I feel like I'm heading in the right direction. The main word I drive off is consistency and consistently improving.

"I don't want to be a player that becomes satisfied after their first year in the system and settling into a role and just going along.

"I want to keep getting better and expanding as a player and hopefully help our team have a really good year."