Levi Casboult headed to Gold Coast thinking he was going to play the role of supporting actor, but was quickly thrust in as the main man following Ben King's season-ending knee injury.

The 32-year-old former Carlton powerhouse was given a second life by the Suns during the off-season, taking at No.3 in the NAB AFL Rookie Draft after being cut by the Blues.

Gold Coast hoped Casboult would be a nice complementary piece alongside King and free agent pick-up Mabior Chol, but things changed quickly.

When the super-talented King crumpled on the training field in February, all eyes turned to Casboult to play a more prominent role.

And to date, he's over-delivered.

With 12 seasons and 154 games under his belt before heading north, there's not many surprises with the bulldozing power forward.

Casboult has vice-like marking hands, can skittle defenders like a bowling ball and has a set shot that's improved over the years to now being sound.

And through five rounds he's kicked nine goals for the Suns and is rarely outmarked.

"I was excited by the opportunity to come up here and play a role, whatever that was," Casboult told AFL.com.au.

"I had conversations with Dewy and the coaches and I was excited about the prospect of working with Ben King, he's an exciting young player and I think the sky's the limit for him.

"I felt it was the opportunity to play the same role as I'd been playing at Carlton for Harry McKay, to take the load off him and allow him to do his best work inside 50.

"Obviously so far that hasn't worked out.

"I'm just trying to create a contest and be a big target for the guys to kick to.

"Hopefully I can mark a few, and if not bring it to ground."

Casboult said he wanted to play on after leaving Carlton, but wasn't exactly sure where he'd end up.

He said moving north with his wife and three children could not have worked out any better.

"The fire was still burning to keep going, but I was also content with 12 years in the system," he said.

"If you had have told me 12 years ago I'd still be around now, with 150-odd games under the belt, then I wouldn't have dreamed of that.

"I was definitely content with what I'd done, but the fire was still burning to continue on.

"It was an adventure and that's what I spoke about with my wife, and we saw it as a good chance for us to experience something new while the kids are still young.

"We've loved our time up here and we probably won't go back to be honest. We've loved it so far."