Gold Coast forwards coach Ken Hinkley has avoided clouding Karmichael Hunt's mind with tactics, expecting him to learn faster from his mistakes than expert tuition.

Hinkley, who played 132 games with Fitzroy and Geelong and was a two-time All-Australian, has been grooming the former NRL star for his senior Australian Rules debut in the VFL match against Coburg at Craigieburn on Saturday, and has kept his instructions brief and basic.

"He has played a little bit of football, but he actually hasn't watched a lot of the games," Hinkley told AAP.

"He has to understand defence and attack and even stoppages and stuff, and we're helping him.

"We are not fast tracking him - we are going to let him learn that as he goes."

GCFC coach Guy McKenna, who has committed to starting Hunt at full-forward against Coburg, said both the coaching staff and player were excited about testing his skills under match pressure.

"This is all about throwing him in the deep end. Actually seeing him play will tell us an enormous amount about what we need to do from a development point of view," McKenna said.

"Once we see what he's good at and not so good at, we'll know for certain what it is we need to work on to get him up for round one, 2011."

Hinkley expected Hunt's biggest assets initially would be his competitive spirit and an ability to hold his ground in one-on-one marking contests because of his lower body strength.

"We've done a little bit of body work with controlling space and knowing when you lead, but again that's experience out there and he'll learn quickly," he said.

Gold Coast will also give debuts to 18-year-olds Josh Toy and Tom Nicholls, recruited last year under a concession which gave the club access to the 12 best players born in the first four months of 1992.

The highly-rated Toy has stayed in Melbourne with his family this year to complete high school, and has been playing school football.

Among eight team changes for the game, Gold Coast dropped former Geelong premiership forward Nathan Ablett.

Ablett, who kicked three goals in the Cats' 2007 grand final win, which was the last of his 21 games for the club, is in Gold Coast's VFL squad, but is not guaranteed a spot on their list when they enter the AFL.

Cats' star Gary, his brother, is the club's prime recruiting target.

Gold Coast sit 12th on the 14-team VFL ladder, with one win and one draw from eight games, two points behind Richmond-aligned Coburg, who are 11th.

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