Victorious Gold Coast Senior Coach Stuart Dew conceded he was a nervous onlooker in the dying minutes of his team's dramatic three-point win over Fremantle on Sunday.

After botching plenty of third-quarter chances in front of goal, the SUNS kicked the final three goals of the match to notch their first win of the year. 

"It's the worst time to be a coach I think, when you're just in front with three minutes to go," Dew said in his post-match press conference.

"You make a lot of noise and it does nothing because you can't do anything."

After losing to St Kilda by a solitary point just seven days earlier, Dew said it was a relief to snatch victory this time around.

"With the way the game was going … when we went 0.7 (in the third quarter) and they went down and kicked three goals, individuals and teams have choices and our guys chose to compete," he said.

"They kept running, which was important, stuck to task and had composure. 

"After last week, I think a young group could say ‘not again’ with another close one, but I think we're all really happy they can sing the song.

"They've got to enjoy the win.

"AFL footy is so hard and we found that out last week.

"People said we wouldn't win a game, but for them, they've gone to task over the summer and you've got to give yourself 12 or 24 hours to enjoy the moment because if you take that for granted, what are we here for?"

Dew said the "little moments" stuck out to him.

Firstly, captain David Swallow put his team in front in the dying minutes with a composed set shot.

Then, with Fremantle going inside 50 one last time in the final minute, it was former Docker Sam Collins that took the match-saving intercept mark.

"Just little moments like that are nice for the players and good for the memory bank."