Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Gold Coast’s three-match losing run has put their AFL top-four hopes in jeopardy, but coach Damien Hardwick is confident the squad is still on track for something special – even if it doesn’t arrive this year.
Talk of tension between Suns players and the coaching staff has been a big talking point in the lead-up to Friday night’s home clash with Hawthorn.
Hardwick played down any talk of worrying rifts, saying tension and “big-boy conversations” are just a normal part of a high-performance environment.
The Suns started as one of this year’s premiership favourites on the back of recruiting Christian Petracca and winning their first three games this season.
Plenty of chinks in their armour have been exposed since then, and Gold Coast (7-6) will be in for another stern test against Hawthorn (8-4-1).
The Suns turned over a big part of their list at the end of last season.
Andrew Swallow and Sean Lemmens retired, Alex Sexton, Lloyd Johnston and Tom Berry were delisted, while Malcolm Rosas (Sydney), Ben Ainsworth (Carlton), Connor Budarick (Bulldogs), Brayden Fiorini (Essendon) and Sam Flanders (Saints) were traded.
It allowed the Suns to draft in five of their academy players, as well as taking a punt on former No.1 draft pick Jamarra Ugle-Hagan.
“We choose to be young,” Hardwick said.
“At the end of the day we can sit there and we can be middle of the pack, or we can sit there and try and bring Gold Coast their first premiership.
“We made some tough decisions at the back end of last year to let go of some established talent that would get some young talent in the door.”
Even though the Suns haven’t caught fire yet, Hardwick doesn’t regret the hard decisions.
“We had the last lick of the ice-cream with the five or six academy kids we brought in that were very, very good players,” Hardwick said.
“So we had to make some tough calls. What we do know is we are building something that I think can be quite special.”
With a younger squad, Hardwick is still getting the balance right of when to go hard, or when to ease up on his players.
“Sometimes success isn’t necessarily linear, you do have to take that one step back to go two steps forward,” Hardwick said.
“I’m not going to be perfect, I accept that. But more importantly, what the players need to know is I’ve got their best interests at heart.”
Hawthorn will again be without star forward Jack Gunston (foot), but defender Tom Barrass (hamstring) is back.
Gold Coast welcome back ruckman Jarrod Witts and have named Beau Addinsall for his AFL debut.
