After a false start to their season, Gold Coast are looking forward to a return to normality as new captain Noah Anderson says they have a point to prove against West Coast.

But they will have to do it without swingman Mac Andrew and gun midfielder Sam Flanders, who will both miss their trip west.

The Suns were supposed to have opened their season against Essendon on Saturday before ex-tropical cyclone Alfred threw the AFL Opening Round into disarray.

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Having weathered the storm, Anderson said his side was looking forward to getting out on the park this weekend amid a disrupted preparation.

“It was a little bit difficult in the first few days - you build up all this excitement about playing in Opening Round and the community is really excited,” he said.

“Everyone did it a little bit hard. Everyone’s situation is different, but we’re ready for a normal week and normal game this weekend.

“It took a few days to process that, but obviously the focus is on West Coast this week and the boys are really hungry to play some footy.

“We’ve worked really hard over the last four months and mentality we’ve been able to recharge over the last couple of days.”

The Suns had an aggressive off-season adding several high-profile pieces to their list, with many believing now is the time they finally break their finals drought.

But standing in their way is an appalling away record being one of the worst travelling teams in the competition, something which Anderson said they are keen to rectify.

“As players, we can’t control what people are thinking on the outside all we have to focus on is our procedure and our actions which will get us over the line,” he said.

“We’re not buying too much if we’re going over favourites, we barely won an away game last year, we’ve got a lot to prove and we’re excited for that.

“It’s been one circled for a few of us we feel like we’ve got a lot to prove this year and we’re excited to get over there.”

While they’ve had to wait longer than expected to get up and running, Anderson believes the extra week off was a benefit to a couple of big names recovering from injury.

Mac Andrew has been ruled out for round one with a chest injury, but is poised to play the following week, while Flanders is targeting a round three return from his back injury.

Lachie Weller and Charlie Ballard — who had both been under injury clouds — have been cleared to play.