Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick concedes his AFL premiership fancies were handed a wake-up call by Melbourne in their shock first loss of the season.

Unbeaten at 3-0 before their bye, the Suns arrived at the MCG on Sunday as hot favourites but were taught a lesson by the exuberant Demons.

Hardwick conceded his side was "spanked" in the midfield, with ruckman Jarrod Witts well beaten by Max Gawn.

He added the Suns' pressure on their opponents was "laughable", but rejected suggestions his players had been complacent in the 16.13 (109) to 14.5 (89) defeat.

"We got beaten in and around contest and they were harder and tougher than us," Hardwick said.

"Every now and then this game will give you a wake-up call and give you a kick right in the nuts, and today that was it for us.

"Our midfield's better than that. We know that, everyone knows that, but we just didn't have the desired result today and we had too many players down."

Gold Coast had been hot favourites to secure a win that would have seen them equal a club-record winning start to the season.

"It's disappointing, but I think people underestimate that side across the road," Hardwick said.

"They've got a great blend of experience and a spattering of youth.

"We look at narratives and people look at the ladder last year, but the ladder last year is worth shit."

Reigning Brownlow Medallist Matt Rowell finished with 13 disposals and four clearances.

Hardwick eased Rowell back into action against Melbourne on limited minutes after his finger injury.

"He's only going to get better as the season progresses," the coach said.

"The game was really, really quick and he was probably like the rest of our midfield - he was OK without being outstanding.

"When you miss seven or eight weeks of footy it does take a little bit of time."

Gold Coast face another huge test against Sydney in Gather Round and are unlikely to regain star recruit Christian Petracca from his hamstring injury until the following week.

"He's going to give himself a chance, but what we've got to remember is it's a marathon, not a sprint," Hardwick said.

"It's a very important game next week and we understand that, but he is an incredibly important player to our long-term future and we've got to make sure we make the right call."