Gold Coast forward Peter Wright has revealed why he centred the ball late in SUNday's one-point loss to St Kilda rather than take a shot at goal. 

With just over two minutes remaining Wright earned a free kick on the junction of the 50m arc and right boundary line. 

The SUNS were trailing by a point. 

Wright decided to kick the ball to the top of the goalsquare where teammate Chris Burgess flew high but dropped what would have been a spectacular mark.

St Kilda ultimately hung on to eke out the narrowest of victories. 

Speaking to AFL.com.au, Wright said it was a play Gold Coast had practiced all pre-season.

"Hindsight is 20-20," Wright said.

"At the time I was tossing up between the two (options), it's not like I didn't think about it. 

"The time on the clock at the ground was about 26 minutes so I thought we still had a bit of time.

"If we could get it to the top of the square and either get a mark – it's a bit of a set play with that flatter kick and someone coming at the footy – or a repeat stoppage would have been a win to put some pressure on St Kilda and lock it in our forward half.

"It wasn't to be.

"You do think it can go both ways, it's just the decision I made at the time." 

Wright said the exact scenario had not been discussed in Gold Coast's review of the loss, but he had no problem with his decision.

"Each scenario is uniquely different," he said.

"That one you can do it 100 times and get different results.

"You take the scenario that comes and make a decision and live with it.

"We have worked on it pre-season, long shots on the edge of your range or tight in the pocket, executing that kick … you're a really big chance of getting a mark. 

"Burger (Burgess) had a really good jump at the ball and did nearly take mark of the round. If he marks that no one's talking about it in a bad light.

"We're pretty comfortable where we're at with execution late in games."