If Brisbane Lions coach Michael Voss was unhappy ahead of Queensland's historic AFL derby clash, he would have been ropeable by fulltime at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Sure, he was not impressed when reminded of Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna's remarkable claim that the Suns were put on the tourist strip to clean up the mess left behind by Voss' former club the Brisbane Bears.

But it would have been nothing compared to the gut-wrenching feeling after the up-start Suns grabbed early bragging rights with an eight-point win over the Lions, 18.16 (124) to 17.14 (116).

Branded a "mercenary" this week by ex-teammate Simon Black for taking up a lucrative Suns contract, Jared Brennan had the last laugh with an inspirational one-goal, 30-disposal effort for the Gold Coast.

Another former Lion Michael Rischitelli had 29 touches as the Suns grabbed their second win in their debut season.

Under-pressure Port Adelaide recruit Nathan Krakouer bounced back from weeks of speculation over his fitness with a match-turning five goals.

Lions veteran Ash McGrath tried hard to create a last-quarter miracle as he finished with six majors.

In a match between the AFL's 16th and 17th-placed sides, so much more was at stake on Saturday night.

Indeed, Voss must now expect serious questions about his future after his side slumped to an 0-6 record, a season start last endured by the team in their wooden spoon year of 1998.

In contrast, the Suns racked up a few more "firsts" in their short history.

A team that had only won two quarters in their existence before Saturday night led all the way until the final minutes of the last quarter when Todd Banfield's goal locked up the scores at 104-all.

Yet the Suns held their nerve in front of 25,501 fans.

Brennan was inspirational as the Suns jumped to a 6.3 (39) to 3.2 (20) lead at the first break.

Krakouer threatened to break the game open when he helped the Suns to a 10.8 (68) to 6.5 (41) halftime buffer - the first time the Gold Coast had won consecutive terms.

And the Suns looked to be cruising when they jumped out to a 13.13 (91) to 11.7 (73) lead at the final interval.

But McGrath was almost unstoppable as he peppered the goal square and when Banfield kicked truly, the scores were locked up in the 24th minute of the term.

Krakouer looked to have given the Suns the edge with his fifth goal after a spectacular grab but McGrath's heroics ensured Gold Coast coach McKenna had to sweat it out until the final siren.

It was a remarkable turnaround for debutants the Suns after their 139-point last round loss to Essendon - including a record 94 points conceded in the first term.

Brennan claimed he wasn't inspired by pre-match sniping from Black and injured Lions captain Jonathan Brown.

"Not really, I didn't take much notice outside of football - I got a couple of cheeky texts during the week but that was pretty much it, it didn't spur me on personally," he said.

"What spurred me on was getting the win - I thought we were a good chance this week if we executed everything and got off to a good start.

"They (Lions) gave me a bit of niggle at the start but that's footy."

Suns coach Guy McKenna tried to make light of his pre-match jibes.

"It was easy for me to pick a fight because I didn't have to go out there but the guys were terrific," he said.

"We were under no illusions after the last game against Essendon, and Brisbane came hard, but the boys weathered the storm."

Voss - a former triple premiership-winning Lions captain - couldn't quite put into words what the loss meant.

"I couldn't describe it myself," he said.

"It's important to debrief (after) every game, and that's what we did.

"The guys will no doubt hurt, as I will, absolutely, for the next 48 hours.

"But we've got to move on, because we've got another job to do, and that's Essendon next week."

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