Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick labelled the free kick paid against his young defender Mac Andrew, which led to the game-deciding goal for the Saints on Saturday night, as “unwarranted”.
Andrew did a superb job in limiting Max King’s influence for most of the game at Marvel Stadium, but with just over three minutes to go, he was controversially penalised for holding King at the top of St Kilda’s goalsquare, way off the ball.
Although it appeared as though both players were holding each other, Andrew was the one who was punished. It gifted King a rare shot at goal from directly in front, and it ended up being the final score in the Saints’ thrilling three-point win.
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“It was clearly, in my view, a free kick that was unwarranted,” Hardwick said post-match.
“Those guys are battling all day. The umpire calls it. That’s his job. But unwarranted for mine.
“There is going to be contact, and incidental contact, from time to time.
“It’s a challenge. The game is incredibly tough and we understand that, but as long as they (umpires) are consistent, that’s all we ask for.”
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Hardwick agreed Andrew would probably be devastated by the match-defining incident in what was a dour affair that only produced 14 goals in total.
“You ride the bumps and you’ll learn from it, you’ll get better at it,” Hardwick said.
“But when two guys are going toe-to-toe, one’s grabbing, the other one’s grabbing, it’s like, well, which way do you go?
“He (umpire) was probably only looking at one person trying to give away the free kick and it was the defender so that’s life. We move on.”
The Suns had the chance to enter the top four this weekend if they beat the bottom-four Saints, but their quest for legitimacy away from home continues. Gold Coast have now lost their last 13 games on the road.
“We were a chance to take a step forward and we didn’t deliver,” Hardwick said.
“It was an opportunity that we let slip and it’s frustrating.
“Winning games away is tough. With our maturity level, and I’m loath to say this, because we choose to be young, but we are young, if that makes sense. We’ve got to get better in that situation.
“We’ve got to understand that an away game, the crowd, all that sort of thing, is a cauldron-like atmosphere that we have to sit there and embrace. You can’t shy away from those type of things.”
As for the game itself, Hardwick described it as “terrible” and “horrific”, and understandably so.
Aside from the thrilling finish, the contest certainly was not one for the time capsule and featured sub-par skills from both teams.
“It’s not a game that I love to be honest,” Hardwick said.
“It was 125 uncontested marks (for Gold Coast) going backwards, sideways. We couldn’t find a way through.
“Credit where credit’s due. They defended really well. It’s a different defence than we’ve been up against before.
“We sort of knew it was coming, but we just didn’t handle it too well.
“The Saints just strangled us. They did a good job of that and got the game on their terms … that’s what (St Kilda coach) Ross (Lyon) does really, really well.
“It’s a strength of theirs and we knew it was going to be like this. We’ll be better next time but it’s frustrating we let a game slip.
“We should’ve, could’ve, but didn’t win. We had our chances late but we’ve got to be better than this and more mature than this.”
Hardwick was one of the loudest voices that called for a change to the holding-the-ball interpretation and after getting his wish two weeks ago, and after a few early teething problems, the Suns coach is confident the sport will be better for the stricter version of the rule in the long run.
“Players will adjust accordingly and get better,” Hardwick said.
“As long as we’re consistent, and consistently pay them, I think it’ll be OK.”
Source Agencies
