THE FORWARDS stole the limelight, but Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade was raving about his team's second-string midfield after its gritty win against Fremantle.

Missing their six first-choice midfielders through injury, the Suns were forced to dig deep into their list, but trumped the Dockers in most key areas for a 24-point win.

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Tom Lynch, Sam Day and Peter Wright combined for 11 goals and added the polish, but Gold Coast's sixth win of the year was built from the engine room. 

Alex Sexton, usually a winger, had never played in the centre square before Saturday, but starred with 26 disposals (including 14 inside 50s), eight tackles, seven clearances and a goal.

He was ferocious without the ball and had claims to being the best player on ground.

Touk Miller is in just his second season, but racked up a team-high 28 disposals and seven clearances and helped link the Suns from defence to attack on numerous occasions.

Jesse Lonergan was the only other recognized midfielder – who Eade said had his best game of 2016 - and was joined by cameos from Jack Martin, Jarrad Garlett, Brandon Matera and Callum Ah Chee. 

"I thought our midfield really stood up; there were some great efforts today," Eade said.

"They rose to the occasion. Really, for the lack of run that we had, to do what we were able to do was fantastic. 

"I thought that was close to our best win of the year, it was a great win."

Gold Coast won the clearances (34-32), contested possessions (138-123) and tackles (89-64) as they worked relentlessly for four quarters. 

The result was 60 inside 50s – more than enough supply for its talented forward line to capitalise.

Eade said he was concerned the Suns would run out of legs without the likes of injured Gary Ablett, Michael Rischitelli, Dion Prestia, Aaron Hall and late withdrawal Matt Rosa in its midfield.

But an eight goal to three second half told a different story. 

"They (Fremantle) are a reasonable running side, even though they’ve got some injuries," Eade said. 

"They pushed Geelong to two goals last week on a big ground, they do like to run and carry and use some speed.

"They’ve got three quality midfielders in Hill, Mundy and Neale, so yeah, I was worried whether we could share the load in the centre of the ground. 

"It was hot, so I was certainly worried about that, but I thought we ran the game out well."