"We can play a lot better than we did tonight," Eade said after his side beat the reigning minor premiers, Fremantle, in Perth on Saturday night.

It was the first time the Suns had beaten the Dockers, the first time they had won in Perth and after beating Essendon in round one, the first time they have started a season with a 2-0 win-loss record.

Have the Suns finally come of age, as Eade hopes? Is this the season when the mix of young, exciting talent and experience carries them into the top eight?

Last season the Suns were 0-2 at the same time, after disappointing losses to Melbourne and St Kilda.

Gary Ablett played just six games in 2015. So did Swallow; Dion Prestia only played eight, Jack Martin and Alex Sexton 12. Jarrod Harbrow, Aaron Hall, Nick Malceski and Trent Mckenzie all missed six games or more, some of them at inconvenient times.

The Suns finished in 16th spot, half a game from a wooden spoon. On Saturday night they were in second spot, behind only the Western Bulldogs.

A year is a long time in football.

"It's very early days. A lot of things can happen, as we found out last year with injuries," Eade said.

"I saw a lot of upside tonight. We made some real basic errors, especially in that third quarter when we were on the fly and missed targets, or got smothered, or the ball bounced past us.

"I think as long as we're prepared to learn and train hard and work hard, and that be the cornerstone of our game, there'll be a big upside.

"I think we can improve a hell of a lot."

The inclusion of Jaeger O'Meara, David Swallow, Touk Miller and Matt Rosa will assist in that improvement.

But as Fremantle coach Ross Lyon would say – one swallow doesn't make a summer.

At least another nine wins must be found before the Gold Coast can play finals for the first time.

They can consolidate their great start to the season with wins over the next fortnight though with games against Carlton (at home) and Brisbane (away).

But you can tell that the expectation of winning concerns Eade a little.

"We're not looking at opponents as such. Essendon won today, and people had written them off. It's a tough competition," he said.

"If you drop your guard, and get complacent, it won't happen, because it's a tough competition.

"I got a lot of confidence from the energy the players were driving after the game (against the Bombers). They really believed they could give a good account of themselves and win the game.

"There was a lot of energy around the place. We have to be mindful now that energy or as a young group, that we don't get comfortable.

"We can't just think we can turn up and it's going to happen."

Surely in the next two weeks, at least, they will.