Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick was hopeful that finally getting the huge road monkey off the team’s back on Saturday night against Essendon at Marvel Stadium will be the first step of the success-starved Suns maturing as a club.
Coincidentally, the last time Gold Coast played at the Docklands venue, when they lost to lowly North Melbourne, Hardwick infamously said that the Suns had to “grow the f— up”.
And Hardwick was optimistic they might’ve begun that process by snapping their abysmal 17-game losing streak away from home with a heart-stopping one-point win over the Bombers thanks to a goal after the siren from Mac Andrew.
“It might be that step,” Hardwick said.
“The proof will be in the pudding. We know we’ve got some things going really, really strongly. We’ve certainly got some areas that we can improve.
“But I thought in a lot of those areas tonight against a side that still is vying for a finals position, our guys stood up.
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“I was just really pleased for the group, and the growth of the group.”
Andrew looms as a big part of that future growth and maturity of the Suns, and Hardwick admits he isn’t sure which part of the ground the defender-cum-forward is best suited after he backed up his three-goal effort against West Coast last week with a match-winning four-goal haul against the Bombers.
“He’s very, very good down back so I’d love to say I’ve got the answer but I’ve probably got more questions than answers at the moment,” Hardwick said.
“He’s an incredible player. He’s an incredible young man to be honest. He’s one of those guys that our coaching staff and our players and our fans just gravitate to and we can see what impact he’s going to have on the league.
“He’s 21, I think, which is scary, really.
“We’re hoping he’s a Suns player for a long period of time but he can play both ends, he’s just got a bit of swagger, he’s aggressive, he’s assertive, which is what I think our side needs and craves.”
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Jack Lukosius was dropped this week, prompting fresh speculation about a potential move back home to South Australia, but Hardwick “absolutely” saw the talented swing man as a key part of the Suns’ future.
“No question for mine,” Hardwick said.
“Jack’s such an important player to our footy club.
“Some of it’s on me, some of it’s on Jack. He’s got some areas of his game that I certainly want him to improve but also I’ve got to sit there as a coach and try and figure out how to get the best out of this kid because I’m not at the moment.
“He’s just such a good kid. He’s going to be a good player for us.
“He’s been trying to do things that I’ve asked him to do, he’s tried his backside off, so we’ll keep working through it.
“He’s just in a rough patch at the moment.”
Source Agencies
