The Power recorded their first victory of the season against the Crows on Saturday night, overturning a five-goal deficit in the second quarter to run out comfortable 32-point winners, while the Suns — despite showing more signs of improvement — experienced another hefty defeat, going down to Melbourne by 90 points at the Gabba.
Port Adelaide, which has won five of the last six showdowns, stands accused of being more competitive in clashes with its cross-town rival than in games against the other 16 teams in the competition.
Chaplin said his side would be out to prove it could perform equally as well against the bottom-ranked Suns this weekend.
"In previous times when we've underestimated teams we've come out and ended up with a poor result, so we'll be respecting the opposition," Chaplin said on Monday.
"Everyone seems to write off Gold Coast, but they've got a good young list. They're going through a transition phase and are probably going to find it hard this year, but we've got to worry about what we can control and that is our professionalism, the way we train and the way we play.
"It's important we bring the same intensity we brought last weekend this weekend because we need to get four points and start to get our season back on track."
Port Adelaide reported no new injuries in the win over Adelaide, and also has the option of recalling experienced campaigners Kane Cornes and Danyle Pearce for the clash with Gold Coast.
Pearce starred for SANFL club Sturt on Friday night, while Cornes - at the discretion of coach Matthew Primus - trained instead of playing for Glenelg and was also given clarification of his new role in the team.
Chaplin said both players had handled their omission from the team well.
"Kane and Pearcey are two quality players who you've got to look at [recalling]. No doubt there'll be some guys, who are sore … so there could be a possibility they come back in this week," he said.
"They did everything they possible could [over the weekend]. Kane was one of the first guys to email the boys after the game on Saturday night, saying how proud he was of the way we went about it, which just shows his character and Pearcey went back [to the SANFL] with the right attitude as well."
Forward Jay Schulz has removed the brace protecting his injured knee and, while he won't play against the Suns, Chaplin said the goalkicker could make a surprise return within the next two weeks.
Gold Coast defender Michael Coad will be denied the opportunity of playing in front of his home crowd this weekend after injuring his hamstring in the loss to Melbourne, while captain Gary Ablett, who sat out the game on Sunday, is expected to return.
Port Adelaide's win over Adelaide was Matthew Primus' first since officially being appointed as coach of the club last September.
"It [the win] was probably a fair bit of relief for Matty. He's been under a bit of [scrutiny] for the last few weeks, but he's come out, made a stand, made some stages to the team and put himself out there," Chaplin said.
"We've been knocked the past few weeks, so to get a win like that was really encouraging. In the past we probably would've rolled over, but this is a new team and we're moving towards something different."
Katrina Gill covers Port Adelaide news for afl.com.au. Follow her on Twitter: @AFL_KatrinaGill
