Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick is facing mounting pressure after his side’s fifth consecutive loss, with questions being raised about whether the premiership-winning coach has lost his touch. The Suns sit at seven wins and eight losses, in serious danger of missing the top 10 despite boasting a star-studded team, including one of the best midfields in the competition with Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson and Christian Petracca.
Promising Start Turns Sour
Gold Coast opened the season with three straight wins, including a 56-point demolition of Geelong, to quickly be installed as premiership favourites. But the wheels quickly fell off and they are now languishing in 11th place after their worst loss of the season, a three-goal effort against Fremantle.
Channel 7’s Tom Morris recently reported the players and coach had a “strained relationship”, while The Agenda Setters also highlighted various clips of their underperforming midfield.
Hardwick Hits Back at Critics
Last week Hardwick hit back at critics, turning the tables back on the media. “I could go to those people that are actually presenting those bits of vision and I could go through their tapes and I could find exactly the same thing,” Hardwick said. “The people within the media, that’s their job. Their job is to create headlines and to create these distractions and the problem is what happens is they’re on TV, they’re on radio and they’re in print. So what becomes their opinion all of a sudden, because it’s in three form of media, becomes bona fide fact.”
Cornes Questions Deflection
But the coach’s comments have been labelled as deflection, with Kane Cornes pointing out that if it’s not the issues highlighted in match footage, Hardwick needs to explain what exactly is wrong with his team. Cornes said Hardwick has lost faith in the midfield, highlighted by some curious moves against Fremantle.
“I like the fiery side of Damien Hardwick. I like the fact whenever coaches stick up for their players, that’s what good coaches do,” Cornes said on The Agenda Setters. “But clearly, he needs to tell us what is wrong with the group. If it’s not the clips that we’ve highlighted, which he couldn’t accept, no coach would accept what we have seen and shown from a selfish midfield who is playing for individual awards and not team accolades, how that midfield with the names in there could be rated 18th is a mystery in all facets. So he has to tell us what’s wrong. Now, clearly, his actions and his coaching is telling us he thinks there’s a problem with the midfield, because look at who went in there.
“So all of a sudden, you’ve got (Nick) Holman going in the midfield, like starting centre-bounce midfield with Rowell starting at half-forward. If he fully believed in this midfield, then he’s going with the tried-and-true guns that would be in there. It’d be (Touk) Miller, who’s there for four on the weekend. It would be Anderson. It would be Rowell. It would be all of the usual names that we know. It would be Bailey Humphrey, who can’t get a kick at the moment.
“So if it’s not the clips that we’ve shown, what is it? That’s what he has to explain to his fans, not that there’s many fans out there supporting. Get up there at your next midweek press conference and explain to us how this group, with Petracca, King, Anderson, Rowell, all of them, are right now losing five in a row and are at risk of missing a wild card. It’s unthinkable.”
Humphrey Under Scrutiny
Cornes also zeroed in on Humphrey, suggesting the rising star should be dropped to the VFL as his poor run of form continues. “This guy on every metric should have been dropped a month ago,” Cornes said of Humphrey. “So is Damien Hardwick prepared to make a hard call on players that are questioning their future, or would dropping him back to the VFL tip him over, and would he give up more? I don’t know, but those numbers, he can’t be playing in this side. He’s checked out.”
Comparison with Stuart Dew Era
The Agenda Setters panel then wondered if the Suns would be better off under former coach Stuart Dew. Dew coached the Suns for six seasons, but got them to the cusp of finals in 2022 with a 10-12 win-loss record. He was then sacked midway through 2023 with the Suns at 7-9. Hardwick won 11 games in his first season at the Suns before improving to 15 wins, including a famous elimination final triumph. But this year they have a 7-8 record, nearly identical to when Dew was sacked.
“But what I will say is, and the question could be asked about, would this group be in a better position if they just persevered with Stuart Dew?” Cornes asked. “They sacked Stuart Dew with really strong language, and I’m paraphrasing here, but it was because they were underperforming, badly underperforming. That’s why he got the sack.”
When comparing both coach’s last 38 games at the Suns, Hardwick is 22-16 compared to Dew at 17-21. “That’s damning on Damien Hardwick. He came in and he said that 80 per cent of the premiership list is in this room today, and there’s 43 per cent of that list remaining, and they might not be, not just playing finals, making the top ten, playing a wild card,” Tom Morris noted.
