IT WAS not the difference in Saturday night's loss to Richmond, but defender John Noble says Gold Coast "overstepped the line" with its misplaced aggression in the early stages.

Led by former SUNS skipper Tom Lynch, the Tigers niggled, both physically and verbally, their previously unbeaten opponents on the way to an 11-point victory.

The most notable incident in the first quarter came following a Jonty Faull goal, with Mac Andrew throwing Seth Campbell to the ground to gift Richmond the rare 'double goal'.

With scuffles popping up all over the ground, Noble agreed the aggression was "costly" for Gold Coast.

"We probably overstepped the line a little bit," he said following a light training session on Tuesday afternoon.

"We probably indulged in that a little too much.

"We cross that line and we've all got white line fever, we're all competitors, that's our industry, but we've got to tread a fine line on that, and we probably got induced into it a little too much.

"Whether that was the difference in the game? The result was the result, but we probably got into it a little too much."

Vice-captain Touk Miller agreed.

"Reflecting on the game, yes it cost us, (but) it wasn't the only thing that cost us," he said.

"We all had moments we could have done better."

One area that concerned coach Damien Hardwick was the SUNS' inability to win ground balls in the forward half of the ground.

Gold Coast generated 62 inside 50s to Richmond's 42, but apart from Ben Long, rarely had a winner inside 50.

"We've got great competitors forward, but we were down on our groundball numbers," Noble said.

"It's something we've identified that we'll go to work on this week, and we've got full faith in all our forwards, talls and smalls, to win or half those contests."

Gold Coast plays just its second home match of the season on Sunday, hosting Sydney at People First Stadium.