Rodney Eade is feeling fresh and invigorated just days before embarking on his 15th season as an AFL coach and his first with Gold Coast.

The SUNS play Geelong in Townsville on Sunday afternoon in their opening NAB Challenge game in what will be his first match in charge since  finishing up with the Western Bulldogs shortly before the end of the 2011 season.

Speaking to AFL.com.au this week, the former Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs coach said he harboured some reservations about stepping back on to the coaching treadmill immediately before and after taking the Gold Coast job.

"I had some doubts, a bit, before I accepted the job and then a bit when I first took it. Did I have the fire to do the training, the grind and the mundane stuff?

"But I'm enjoying it thoroughly," he said. "I have been pleasantly surprised with training and the whole preparation stuff. I have good support staff, so it's all good.

"Once the scoreboard starts ticking over, or doesn't tick over, that will be the testing time," he said.

But he faces a testing start to the pre-season, with the SUNS handed just six days between their opening two engagements, with the clash against the Cats on Sunday followed by a trip to Blacktown to play Greater Western Sydney. And in between, the SUNS will remain in Townsville for two days their community camp.

"That's going to be a juggling act with training and game time, so we'll rest some fit players from NAB one (the first week of the NAB Challenge) and bring back some injured players who will then be ready for NAB two," Eade said.

Among those who won't play in Townsville are Gary Ablett, Jaeger O'Meara, Aaron Hall, Charlie Dixon, Steven May, Sam Day and Dion Prestia.

"We'll monitor the game time in the Geelong game, but it's more about having them right for round one of the home and away season."

Eade's most recent job was as director of football at Collingwood, where the facilities are as plush as they come in the AFL. Life on the Gold Coast is a bit more modest, including the tin shed gymnasium, which Eade likened to a sauna and admitted could be tough for the players after a long session on the track.

"Having been at the Bulldogs, where the facilities weren’t great and we still made preliminary finals, it's important for the players that you are seen to be doing everything for them.

"We tailor their loads a bit, but you build up resilience ... As the great John Kennedy (Eade's first coach at Hawthorn) used to say, 'You never spoil the players.' There is a positive out of the negative."

The general belief is that the SUNS should play finals this year. Club chairman John Witheriff is particularly bullish about the prospect but there is no pressure on Eade to make the finals in his first year in charge.

"If you worry about that you're going to take your mind off the job at hand. We aim high and if we don't reach our expectations or aims we will look at the reasons why, not the emotive stuff.

"It's a tough competition. I know people think we're a lay down misère to make the finals but there are eight teams who made the finals who don't want to drop out and another six who think they should have made it as well," he said.

In his three years out of the coach's box Eade said the biggest change has been the improvement in defensive strategies, but that reigning premiers Hawthorn had taken that to a new level.

"It's a bit cyclical. Everyone has gained an edge through their defensive mechanisms to a degree and most teams are good at that. What I noticed towards the end of last year was that Hawthorn got the jump in this area…you have to score."

"If you can't score, you're not going to win. Some teams can defend but they can't score. You have to be able to take your chances and you have to score.

"You have to get all three phases right – win contested ball and then you have to be able to score and you have to be able to defend," he said.