The AFL's hottest side will need to snap a Canberra hoodoo if they're to take another huge step on Sunday towards finals football.

GWS boast the competition's longest winning streak - five games - but haven't won at their makeshift home ground of Manuka Oval in nine outings, dating back to a 44-point win against St Kilda in 2019.

But defender Harry Perryman insists the red-hot Giants are embracing their chance to play finals, admitting they'd be "kidding themselves" if they didn't have one eye on making the top eight.

The Giants start the round just two points outside the top eight and only a single win back from fifth, with a chance to shore up their credentials against Gold Coast on Sunday.

Perryman said seeing their finals hopes boosted considerably across their five-match winning run had boosted the side.

"Definitely, but that being said it's been there all year for us," he said.

"We've won the last couple, but we've always had that in sight.

"If you're not striving for finals, then you're probably kidding yourself a bit.

"Definitely the best thing about the position we're in, it's in our hands now so we've just got to control what we can control and go from there."

They've lost Jesse Hogan to a quad injury but get running defender Nick Haynes and young midfielder Finn Callaghan back to a side that stunned Adelaide away from home last weekend.

Gold Coast looked to be back somewhere near their best in a 26-point win against St Kilda last time out and haven't given up on their own chances of playing finals, starting the round just a game outside the eight.

Perryman acknowledged the Suns would prove a challenge and said rebuilding some trust with their Canberra fans would be a great way moving forward.

"There is a bit of a drought (in Canberra), it used to be a fortress for us," he said.

"We've spoken about making sure we get that back and make this ground a fortress for the years to come, so I think that's definitely going to start tomorrow.

"The Suns are in some good form, we're gonna have to be on.

"A lot of people didn't really back us much this year at all, but we've had some strong belief inside the four walls.

"We've had some good changes in our system, to the game plan from the coaches, they've been incredible ... it's just starting to click for us now."