Year one offered plenty of the expected thrashings, but enough glimpses also of the precocious talent on offer in the Suns' three wins. Year two saw something of a plateau, yet another 20-odd senior games drummed into some developing bodies.

Year three was a season of significant improvement, three wins turning to eight, including the Suns' most significant scalp till then, a Collingwood outfit firmly entrenched in the top eight.

And in 2014 Gold Coast, about to play its 80th game in AFL company, has taken another leap forward, that eight-win benchmark of last year already matched, the Suns a game clear in the eight and with a first finals appearance a distinct possibility.

Possibility being the operative word. Because the Suns still have a series of considerable obstacles to scale. Collingwood next weekend. Ladder leader Port Adelaide. In the penultimate round, an Essendon desperate to claim its place in the eight. And this Saturday, the biggest test of the lot.

No AFL road trip at the moment is harder than to take on reigning premier Hawthorn at its second home in Launceston, Aurora Stadium, a venue at which the Hawks have now won 16 of their past 17 games.

For Gold Coast, it will be another significant pointer to the progress made under the coaching of Guy McKenna. And his side needs to underline its finals credentials with at least a credible performance away from Metricon Stadium against the best in the competition.

The Suns' record this season is that of a side whose ladder position is pretty much exactly where it should be.

Six of their eights wins have come against sides in the bottom half. The two biggest ticks are the wins at Etihad Stadium against North Melbourne and last week's victory at home over Geelong, which sits fifth, with one more win.

But in three games against members of the top four, the Suns have come up well short. In fact, their three biggest losses this season have been against Hawthorn, by 98 points, Fremantle (48) and Sydney (35).

McKenna knows there's still plenty of convincing to be done, but has called the win over the Cats "a fork in the road".

"It made me realise the boys are a bit more physically advanced than I thought they were," he said on Wednesday. "Regardless of who we're playing, whether it's a top-four side or a bottom-four side, it's about mentally and physically replicating that, and we have to do that for at least nine weeks."

And the challenge for Gold Coast's midfield against the Hawks is almost a microcosm of the bigger team picture, the precocious Suns' on-ball group up against the heavyweight midfield group of the competition.

Both groups are pivotal to their side's success. Hawthorn is ranked No. 1 in the competition for scores from clearances, which represent 31 per cent of the Hawks' entire score. But Gold Coast isn't far behind, ranked No. 3 at 27.8 per cent.

Gary Ablett, Dion Prestia, Jaeger O’Meara and David Swallow is a starting midfield quartet the envy of most clubs. But Hawthorn's group, even without mainstay Sam Mitchell for the past six games, continues to get the job done without as many plaudits or as much overt silk as other midfields.

Jordan Lewis and Liam Shiels provide the Hawks with plenty of grunt, supplemented further in recent weeks by a revitalised Brad Sewell. The run and spread is coming in spades from Isaac Smith and Brad Hill, with skipper Luke Hodge and Shaun Burgoyne providing lashings of class besides.

Back in round four, it was Mitchell, Burgoyne and Hodge who led the midfield charge. Ablett was typically busy for Gold Coast, Prestia, O’Meara and Swallow at worst serviceable, yet still the Suns were comfortably beaten at the stoppages and for contested ball.

The physical advance of which McKenna spoke this week can be better gauged after another four quarters against arguably the AFL's most physical midfield group. And that battle will go a long way to determining whether the Suns as team, as impressive as they've been already this season, can actually punch above their weight division.