The Suns defender was among the side's best in torrential Cairns conditions against North Melbourne on the sodden Cazalys Stadium surface he grew up playing on.

Gold Coast finished 7.13 (55) to 5.9 (39) winners, having started the final term up by just one point.

Harbrow said the hard-earned win was important for the side's confidence after two preseason victories had shown them what they were capable of.

"It's pretty special; it was important that we took our preseason form and the trust that we'd built over the preseason into round one," he told Fox Sports afterwards.

"It's good to get that belief and I think that builds confidence."

The foundation Sun wasn't at his usual run and gun best, instead playing within himself to suit the conditions.

He kicked all 21 times he had the ball as the Suns ground out a win in coach Stuart Dew's first game in charge.

"It was not the night for that type of stuff, important to not be too fancy," Harbrow said.

"It's all about territory and basics; not a lot of run and dash, just stay safe and do the little things."

North Melbourne started the better but it was the Suns who booted five straight goals to blow the game open as the rain eased in the second quarter.

The Kangaroos responded with four unanswered third-quarter goals, with skipper Jack Ziebell injecting himself forward with success.

But Harbrow said Dew's calming influence at the break helped the side steady in the final term.

Dew said spending plenty of time training in what has been a wet Gold Coast preseason helped.

"We've had a bit of it lately, so they weren't scared to get dirty," he said.

"We did at times go away from wet weather footy as well and I thought that's when we let them into it."

The Suns play their first 10 games away from their Metricon Stadium home ground due to the Commonwealth Games, making the Cairns win especially crucial.

Australian Associated Press