GOLD Coast will open its NAB Challenge campaign on Sunday minus its four best midfielders, but coach Rodney Eade isn't bothered.

Captain Gary Ablett (foot), David Swallow (knee), Dion Prestia (knee) and Jaeger O'Meara (knee) will all watch from the boundary line as the Suns travel to the Brisbane northside suburb of Burpengary to play the Lions.

But while all four suffered serious injuries in 2015 – limiting them to a combined total of just 20 games – things are not so bad this time around.

Ablett and Prestia have slight niggles and will play later in the pre-season competition, while Swallow will rejoin the main group in the coming weeks.

O'Meara is further behind, but is expected to return via the NEAFL in the opening weeks of the season.

Eade said despite missing the star quartet, the Suns were in good shape as the pre-season kicked off.

"We're not really worried about the opposition as such, that'll be the same with all the NAB, it's more about us, about individuals getting some form, and the way we've been training the last three months, things we've been trying to put into practice," Eade said on Thursday morning.

"There is still a fair bit of work to do but the signs at the moment, we seem to be taking some steps forward, but the next three or four weeks will tell more."

From its best 22, Gold Coast will also be without Jarrad Grant (wrist), Jarrod Harbrow (quad) and Adam Saad (ankle) to play the Lions, but like their midfield mates, the trio is expected to play during the pre-season.

After a horror 2015, Eade said he had set no expectations ahead of this season, but was pleased with progress both on and off field.

"The last half of last season there was a lot of growth in leadership and a lot of growth in our culture, a lot of growth in our ownership of the team by the players," he said.

"We made some tough decisions at the end of the year. Getting some new staff in the high performance area, which was probably an area of weakness, I think has really galvanised the group.

"From our point of view we expect not only to be more competitive, but to win more games.

"Obviously we had a lot of injuries last year and lot of players missing, but I would think out of the 18 teams, there are probably 14 of the teams that think they can make the finals, which is great for the competition.

"We are one of those teams."

Tom Lynch will captain the Suns on Sunday.