Touk Miller has taken the high road after his captaincy demotion and explained why he's no hypocrite when it comes to Gold Coast teammate Matt Rowell's playing future.

The on-baller is entering his 11th AFL season at the Suns, a club that is yet to play finals since its 2011 inception.

Miller was a leading light in his early years as the club copped heavy hits on and off the field, before they flirted with finals campaigns in his last three seasons as co-captain.

But the 29-year-old will act as Noah Anderson's deputy in 2025 after the 23-year-old emerging star was voted in ahead of him last month.

The move comes in triple-premiership coach Damien Hardwick's second season at Carrara and as the club declares it can rewrite history to be a finals force.

"Don't get me wrong, I really wanted to captain the club and I felt like I was the man for the job," Miller told AAP ahead of Saturday's season opener against Essendon.

"And that's completely OK, but you're not entitled to the captaincy and have to respect it when you're in that position.

"When I found out, there were a few emotions and it was a little bit of a roller-coaster; people talking to you, reaching out and, you know, everyone's got their say.

"But what it boils down to is that it's not a competition for captaincy. It's about beating other teams.

"A lot of things kind of play on your mind, but I'm here for Noah to give him the most amount of support I can.

"And we're best placed if we've got someone who can lead us for many more years."

Miller is recovering from a small ligament tear in his knee, missing a planned return against the Swans last Friday, but he is still hopeful of featuring against the Bombers.

The two-time All-Australian played his junior football at Maribyrnong Park in Melbourne but has been a fierce loyalist since his arrival on the Gold Coast with pick 29 in 2014.

He called out co-captains Tom Lynch and Steven May in 2018 when it was revealed they had spoken with rival clubs, but says off-contract teammate Matt Rowell's similar conversations in the off-season were different.

"I don't want to contradict myself, but there's an element of, you know, they were our two captains at the time and that was a factor," Miller said.

"Nowadays players do explore it; it's well known and it's not covered up as much ... it's just going to happen.

"As far as I can see, in the way that he trains and applies himself ... he wanted to step up into a leadership role.

"He's given us his full attention ... hopefully that decision happens a bit sooner than later, but I am really confident that he's happy here and part of our journey to play finals and win premierships."

Over the years those finals aspirations have been trumpeted ad nauseam by the Suns.

But they still haven't tasted September action, an 11-12 campaign under Hardwick last year two wins back from eighth place.

Miller, though, says obsessing about simply "making it" is missing the point.

"People are always going to talk us down; that's just how it is, the nature of the game," he said.

"I'm sure if we played finals this year and lost in the first round (the narrative would be that), 'you can't win when it counts in a big game'.

"So we want to be consistent, be really gritty and have really strong team chemistry.

"The difference in a few games last year was our lack of grit and not being able to finish a game off.

"You win a couple of those games and we play finals."