Re-signed Gold Coast veteran Lachie Weller has celebrated his side's ability to win ugly and flagged the need for more of the same as the restocked Suns figure out their best mix.

The Suns defied Essendon's best swings in a nine-point win in Carrara on Saturday to snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 4-2.

The Bombers, who had ended a 17-game losing streak with a win over the impressive Melbourne a week earlier, rallied to build a two-goal lead in the third term and then trailed by one in the final quarter.

But 30-year-old Weller steadied the ship with his second goal of the term, dummying and then snapping from the left pocket, to give the Suns the decisive buffer.

On Monday Weller locked in a three-year contract extension that will see the former Fremantle talent, who grew up on the Gold Coast and was part of the Suns' academy, play at least 12 seasons for the club and potentially push his career well beyond 200 games.

Fellow academy graduate Bodhi Uhland, who at 21 has already amassed 55 AFL games, confirmed a four-year contract extension on Monday.

Injuries meant Weller played no more than 13 games in a season between 2021-2024 but he managed 19 last year and has again been solid on the wing or at halfback in all six games in this campaign.

"I don't get to have many shots at goal .. that snap, was a pretty good feeling," Weller told AAP after his 167th AFL game on Saturday.

"It was a gritty win, not pretty but really positive to come out on top."

"In previous years we might have rolled over and cracked under pressure.

"The Bombers were great ... AFL is hard. I'm still waiting to have an easy game."

The Suns, fourth, will play third-placed Hawthorn (5-1) in Tasmania on Saturday, with captain Noah Anderson a "50-50" proposition after he missed the Bombers clash following the removal of his appendix.

Coach Damien Hardwick partly deflected the nature of their performance by questioning the officials' holding the ball ruling post-game.

But he was still was at pains to point out some eye-catching efforts in the VFL and hint at personnel changes for the Hawks clash.

Weller, in his 12th season, said that was all part of the journey as they look to improve on a maiden finals campaign last year that ended in a second-week thumping by eventual premiers Brisbane.

"It's a long season; we'll probably use 30-odd players, guys come in and out of form and guys will get injured," he said.

"But we've got a lot of options now and once we get Noah back the midfield will be strong."