Gold Coast Suns defender Jarrod Harbrow is out for redemption against his former side the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Saturday after admitting he let his new club down.

As one of only a handful of Suns' recruits with notable AFL experience, Harbrow was expected to be one of the defensive beacons for the Suns' first official match against Carlton.

However, he said a lack of familiarity with his new teammates and a lack of game time cost the side heavily.

"I've definitely got to pick up my game. I'm definitely not happy with last week's game," Harbrow said before Wednesday's training session.

"I've just got to get back to basics, win my own football and go from there.

"Everyone didn't know each other's game. That was our first game as a full strength team."

Despite playing 70 games with the Bulldogs over four seasons before joining the Suns, Harbrow said there was little insight he could offer his mentors.

He said assistant coaches Ken Hinkley and Andy Lovell were just as well drilled on the Bulldogs game plan as he was although he pointed out opposition coach Rodney Eade would try and exploit the Suns' younger players.

"He (Eade) will probably attack the younger bodies that we've got," Harbrow said.

"I know, that by us having younger bodies and not having enough experience, he'll be saying `take it to them and really tackle them hard'."

Harbrow indicated it was too early for critics to suggest the Suns would be the whipping boys of the competition and may not win a game.

He admitted some players suffered from pre-game nerves before the 119-point loss to Carlton, but with more match time as a side and allowing for natural improvement, the Suns will evolve into a major threat.

Gold Coast key forward Charlie Dixon highlighted just how new many Queenslanders are to AFL football when he explained how his brother and uncle were left red-faced at the TAB for trying to collect their winnings for him to post the first goal.

"They thought they put it on me to kick the first goal, but their bet was for the first match goal," said Dixon who kicked the first goal for the Suns, but sixth for the match.

"They were pretty pumped until they handed their ticket in."

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