Make no mistake, the inclusion of Charlie Dixon is massive for the Gold Coast SUNS who travel to Canberra to face fellow expansion outfit Greater Western Sydney in a crucial battle for both sides.

Speaking to the media ahead of his side's important ANZAC Day clash with the Giants, SUNS coach Rodney Eade admits having Dixon in the line is a substantial boost for Gold Coast as they look to put a disappointing start to their season behind them.

“It’s a really big plus for us. He’s probably in our top six most important players I would have thought,” Eade told reporters at Metricon Stadium on Friday morning.

“But just his contest, his ability to come at the footy. I think the players around him grow a bit as well.”

Dixon was the first player the club signed during their formative stages back in 2008 and he has played a pivotal role in getting the game’s 17th franchise off the ground. The north Queensland product kicked the SUNS' first ever goal in their first AFL match against Carlton.

“It’s his 50th game as well, he was in the inaugural bunch, he played the first game kicked the first goal. So there’s a lot of the pioneer about him,” Eade said.

“I think it will take him a few weeks to get his groove to be honest, because he’s only played the one game back in the NEAFL. I think the whole is greater than some of the parts in the way he goes about it.”

The 24-year-old returned from ankle surgery last weekend in the NEAFL against Aspley, playing 80 minutes of game time and kicking three goals in a promising display.

Despite his limited match conditioning, Eade said the medical staff at Metricon Stadium were confident he was ready to return to senior football on the back of a strong patch of full training with the main group.

“He’s had a fairly big lead-up till he played last week. He probably could have played a week or two earlier so we gave him that extra workload,” Eade said.

“The medical staff who are reasonably cautious with him said there’s no reason why he couldn’t play.

“And if you know Charlie he’s going to go as hard in the seconds as he is in the seniors, so there’s not going to be a great difference in the intensity that he’s going to okay with. He’s as much chance of getting injured in the seconds as he is in the seniors.”