GOLD Coast is already seeing the benefit of its tough call to move on midfielers Jarryd Lyons and Michael Barlow at the end of last season, coach Stuart Dew says.

The Suns copped criticism for trading clearance specialist Lyons to Brisbane and bringing Barlow's career to a premature end, especially considering the mix of inexperienced players in their onball division.

The experience afforded to youngsters Brayden Fiorini, Jack Bowes, Wil Powell and Darcy MacPherson in a new-look midfield in the one-point loss to St Kilda was invaluable for players trying to cement themselves as regular AFL players, according to Dew.

SUNS FALL SHORT Full match coverage and stats

"Decisions are made at the end of last year to see how good Brayden Fiorini will be, see how good Jack Bowes will be. Darcy MacPherson went through the middle (on Sunday)," Dew said.

"We certainly wanted to explore that and I think Brayden's started the season really well."

Fiorini (30 disposals) was Gold Coast's best fourth-quarter player, while Bowes (22 touches and five clearances) and MacPherson (20 touches and nine tackles) also had influence in dragging Gold Coast back into the contest.

Barlow was watching the game as part of his duties as a radio commentator for AFL Nation at the venue, while Lyons was part of a big Brisbane victory against West Coast on Saturday night.

"It's different playing in the midfield in close games and learning from that than playing on the flank and down back. They'll learn a lot from what midfielders need to do when the game's close and I thought they handled those situations well," Dew said.

"As a footy club we did need to make decisions on working out what have we got? And how good can they be? We know Jarryd is going to go on and play good footy but we had a couple parked there that we really wanted to find out about from a list demographic point of view.

"I think it will be win-win. We got Anthony Miles to come in. I thought he was really hard today and he gives good protection for those younger players."

WATCH Stuart Dew's full post-match media conference

Gold Coast brought in Miles from Richmond and ex-Cat George Horlin-Smith to offset the loss of Lyons and Barlow through the midfield, but the club is prepared to be patient to discover whether those young players can perform consistently at AFL level.

Despite being hampered with injuries to Ben Ainsworth (knee) and David Swallow (knee) affecting rotations, the Suns almost caused a momentous upset in the dying stages of the game with repeat inside 50s placing enormous pressure on St Kilda's defence.

Dew said his young side, which featured seven club debutants, would learn from the experience of being involved in such a tight tussle.

"I thought we were finishing strong. It's not often you win three quarters and lose the game but today's that day," Dew said.

"We'll learn plenty. Both individual players but as a group where we can get better. We were down a couple from the second quarter so I thought our guys physically really boxed on and for Dave and Benny to box on and do what they did was really good."

Dew said he was unsure on the prognosis of Ainsworth and Swallow's knee injuries.

"Dave's was in a tackle and then Benny when he was kicking it was incidental. They were able to play the game out but fingers crossed we'll just assess them," Dew said.

"It was important they were able to give us a bit to give us an opportunity to win the game."