'As good as I've seen': Petracca stars for hot Suns

Petracca kicked three goals and had a game-high 34 touches, four score assists and 678 metres gained against the sorry Cats.

Even without injured Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell, the Suns grew their lead to 85 points approaching three-quarter time.

The Cats dragged it back to avoid what would have been only the second triple-figure loss of Chris Scott's 15-season coaching career.

Bailey Humphrey (four goals) kicked three majors in the first quarter alone, linking superbly with a surging Petracca, while Ben King (four goals) also filled his boots against a Cats team missing captain Patrick Dangerfield (calf) and spearhead Jeremy Cameron (quad).

Touk Miller (30 touches, one goal) had 10 first-quarter possessions, while Noah Anderson (24 disposals, one goal) hit the post twice among four behinds but was ominous as he linked effortlessly with Petracca and his forwards.

Gold Coast's No.2 pick Zeke Uwland (16 disposals), playing with older brother Bodhi, zipped around and won some tough ball in his debut.

"Our contest and defence ... as good as I've seen in my time here," said Suns coach Damien Hardwick, who's starting his third season on the Gold Coast since leaving Richmond.

"There's a reason we went after him ... it's the start of a long period for him here and he's only going to get better," he said of Petracca.

The 30-year-old was devastating in the first quarter, exploding out of traffic more than once and somehow, while under heavy pressure, shaping a drop punt from left to right to kick his first goal in red.

Gold Coast kicked 7.3 from turnovers and didn't let up after the break, with Petracca again showing quick hands to pinch the loose ball and deliver to Humphrey, who snapped his fourth.

A fifth went begging when Humphrey hooked a set shot moments later from another Petracca assist.

Looking back to his Norm Smith Medal-winning best after some troubled years at Melbourne, Petracca didn't miss his chance for a third when a wide-open Gryan Miers uncharacteristically fumbled.  

"Those two have bounced off each other since Christian walked through the door, even before that," Hardwick said of Humphrey and Petracca.

"They have an understanding of what the other one's going to do next."

Geelong's Oliver Dempsey (four goals, 20 disposals) made hay once the Suns' intensity finally dropped in the fourth term.

Tanner Bruhn (31 touches) was among the Cats' best in his first AFL game in 17 months after being falsely accused of rape, while Max Holmes had nine clearances and 29 touches.

"We're pretty calm ... we won't be overreacting," Scott said.

"We needed them to be a little bit off and they were the opposite."

Scott said the high-profile absences of Dangerfield and Cameron "snuck up on us a little bit".

"We thought they'd be right to play," he said.

"They just didn't feel ready and maybe in retrospect we might have had a few guys like that, as good as they'd like to be, going into a big game.

"We had to throw the magnets around a bit ... clearly didn't work."