Sam Collins admits there is a new kind of pressure on the slumping Gold Coast but that they have the answers ahead of a defining AFL clash with Hawthorn.

The Suns, fresh off a maiden finals appearance, began the season with a thumping defeat of Geelong and, at 7-3, were nestled in the top-four in mid-May.

But losses to North Melbourne, Brisbane and Geelong, as well as a bye, in the past month have knocked the wind out of their sails.

They are now ninth at 7-6 ahead of Friday's clash with the Hawks before meetings with Fremantle, Collingwood, Adelaide and Western Bulldogs.

Considered a premiership contender earlier this season, the Suns were labelled "middling" by their frustrated coach Damien Hardwick after they were undone by the Lions early in June.

"As a club we're under a bit of pressure at the moment and it's somewhat new for a lot of us here," defender and vice-captain Sam Collins said.

"We've got to work through that and we'll come through.

"(It's a) massive challenge, massive opportunity against Hawthorn.

"We're hanging out for a win. It's on us to play the type of football that justifies getting the four points and we're not playing our best footy right now."

Collins said the post-mortem of the Suns' defeat in Geelong was easier viewing than their analysis of the Lions loss, in which they were found wanting in most areas.

"We thought we played a pretty good first three quarters and just didn't capitalise," he said of the Geelong game, happy with his side's ball movement, pressure and contest work in what blew out to a 45-point loss.

"(Against) Brisbane we weren't up to scratch, but I thought (against) Geelong we played some pretty good footy.

"We've got the answers, we're not searching for anything."

Christian Petracca has played well since arriving from Melbourne this season but the Suns' midfield - that already featured star trio Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson and Touk Miller - has not progressed accordingly.

Bailey Humphrey's influence has lessened since Petracca's arrival and his future, along with that of key forwards Ben King and Jed Walter, remains a source of speculation.

But Collins backed the Suns' stars to respond against the Hawks.

"At the individual level we have a lot of great players with a big memory bank of great football behind them," he said.

"So, dive into that and what it looks like, then the non-negotiables around contest and pressure (will complement that).

"We would have liked to have won some games we dropped but we're not feeling pressure as such, I'm just hanging out for a win."