The issues at Gold Coast are everywhere — off the field, on the field, in the coaches’ box, and up above.
The year isn’t spiralling out of control … it’s spiralled.
Last season St Kilda coach Ross Lyon sparked a mini storm when he called Gold Coast the AFL’s “nepo baby” … right now this baby is on a seven-game losing streak and has seemingly thrown the toys out of the cot.
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They’ve gone from top of the ladder and early season flag favourites, to 14th on the ladder and in a dogfight to make the top 10.
A month ago it was revealed on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters, that there was a “disturbing disconnect” between the players and coach Damien Hardwick, and there are now fears that divide is widening.
“What happens now could define (chief executive) Mark Evans’ legacy and Damien Hardwick’s legacy,” AFL journalist Caroline Wilson said Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters on Tuesday night.
Suns’ biggest names part of ‘disturbing disconnect’
A few weeks ago, 7SPORT expert Tom Morris revealed there were tensions between players and coaches at Gold Coast.
Wilson called it a “disturbing disconnect” on Tuesday night, and it was “a disconnect that went both ways”.
“My understanding is that (Tom is) 100 per cent correct, and that in some areas the situation has not improved, but in fact got worse,” Wilson told The Agenda Setters.
“I think there is a disconnect, now, between Damien Hardwick and Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell.”
Anderson and Rowell are great mates, the pride and joy of the Suns.
Rowell is obviously the reigning Brownlow medallist and Anderson is the captain. They are the former No.1 and No.2 draft picks respectively, snapped up by the Suns in 2019 as part of an AFL assistance package in the aftermath of a wooden spoon year that followed consecutive second-bottom finishes.
Only last year the AFL website trumpeted them as saviours of the club, calling them a “slam dunk of success”, while they helped power Gold Coast to their first ever finals appearance.
“I’m not saying they’ve fallen out, but I don’t think the respect is there that it was, and I don’t think the relationship is fantastic,” Wilson said.
Wilson stressed that Hardwick “doesn’t have the relationship with his players” that he had at Richmond, the club he took to three premierships before joining the Suns ahead of the 2024 season.
“And we know that Matt Rowell, for example, had a fabulous relationship with Steven King (former Suns assistant, now Melbourne coach).”
Suns powerbrokers ‘soft’, off-field leaders in the gun
As well as the club’s superstar players, the leadership at Gold Coast is also being questioned …. from CEO (and respected administrator) Mark Evans, chairman Bob East, to veteran football boss Craig Cameron.
Wilson wondered why Hardwick wasn’t chastised by the club’s hierarchy after the coach prematurely put a fork in the team’s season following last week’s abysmal loss to Adelaide.
She also believes those leaders are “absolutely” soft on Hardwick.
“So we know that Damien Hardwick, in the words of the club, ‘self-corrected’ this morning when he addressed his players at training and said that he was wrong to say their season was as good as over,” Wilson said on Tuesday.
“He did that after the president Bob East had felt forced to do the same last night when he spoke to The Age and said ‘of course, we’re still in it.’ (But) I’m really surprised that neither president nor CEO (haven’t spoken to Hardwick).
“These are all strong leaders. I think Damien Hardwick should have been spoken to. The decision from the club was that would have been churlish, given that he had chosen to self-correct himself. But there is certainly a view that the club needs to be more mindful of Damien Hardwick when he’s emotional and disappointed and goes into these press conferences.”
Morris said Hardwick’s “rap sheet” over the past 18 months was lengthy and “poor”.
And Wilson said it was not an “attractive look” for a club that was trying to become a “community leader” on the Gold Coast.
“The board, I think, subtly made the point to Mark Evans: ‘We’re backing you, but this needs to work,’” Wilson said on The Agenda Setters.
“Mark Evans’ position is on the line here too, this has to work.”
Stream The Agenda Setters live or watch anytime on-demand at 7plus
Wilson noted that when Hardwick was under the pump at Richmond, the Victorian club backed him in and put support around him.
“When it happened at Richmond in 2016, they brought in (former club great and proven administrator) Neil Balme. There was a lot of truth telling. The mixture was there. The ingredients were there,” Wilson said.
“This is going to be fascinating to see where they go from here.
“Whether they can swallow their pride and change what they’re doing, because the AFL are not happy, (and) clearly players and coaches are not happy.
“There’s too many schisms being formed from the Richmond crew, etc. I’m going to watch this really closely.”
Wilson was also baffled by the fact the Suns did not have a “proper” leadership program.
“Damien Hardwick is in his third year … last week this was one of the youngest teams playing over Round 18 … the captain is 25 and he clearly needs help. His leadership has not been what it was,” Wilson said.
Former Richmond star Alex Rance — who works at the Suns as their culture and leadership consultant — has not avoided scrutiny either.
“Every club has a pretty strong leadership program and it just amazes me that Alex Rance, who was a premiership full-back (at Richmond) and one of the great defenders of his era, he’s a cultural leader at that club but he is the only leadership person in their program.”
Luke Hodge wondered if Rance had done leadership courses to help him in his role at the Suns, while Wilson pointed to the Lions, who have Harris Andrews (29), Josh Dunkley (29), and Hugh McCluggage (28) as co-captains
The Petracca problem: ‘Like a fly’
Norm Smith medallist Christian Petracca is another headache for the Suns.
The shiny recruit started hot this season and was an early Brownlow Medal favourite, but now his work ethic and lack of defensive pressure is being questioned and it’s having a knock-on effect to Gold Coast’s other stars.
“I love his movement at stoppages but he’s doing it too often,” Hodge said on The Agenda Setters.
“He’s not staying in the contest, he’s not tackling, and on the flip side you’ve got Noah Anderson who’s trying to get the ball but also trying to cover the space that (Petracca has) just left.”
Petracca had three tackles on the weekend, but the week prior to that it was just one, and in the games against Fremantle and Hawthorn it was a pair of zeros.
Hodge showed a clip of Petracca at stoppage against Izak Rankine.
“(Rankine) is 10 kilos lighter and he moves him out of the road like a fly,” Hodge said.
Petracca’s midfield minutes has also meant 21-year-old gun Bailey Humprey is missing out.
Humphrey is on the radar of several Victorian clubs after he failed to get Melbourne last season.
Hardwick once compared Humphrey to Richmond great Dustin Martin.
Big Mac a big problem on a multi-million-dollar contract
In 2024 Mac Andrew extended his contract with Gold Coast in what was widely coined as the richest deal in AFL history.
Andrew already had a contract (that ended in 2025) but the new deal was reportedly worth around $12 million over nine years.
It’s fair to say Andrew hasn’t lived up to the hype since, and on Tuesday he was engulfed in a “disabled toilet” fiasco which has followed several questions around his on-field behaviour.
As well as the the toilet drama — which the club says is a non-issue — vision of Andrew doing a hand jerk action (to signal ‘w***er’ to a member of the crowd) during the Round 17 clash with Collingwood has also been thrust into the spotlight.
Wilson said she is staggered the AFL has not issued a fine to Andrew or even said they were investigating that incident.
AFL great Nick Riewoldt said: “Andrew is not anywhere close to living up to (his contract) … Mac Andrew is paid like (an on-field leader), he doesn’t play like one.”
King set to leave, is it game over for Jamarra?
Morris has already reported that star forward Ben King is eyeing off a “big deal” with Hawthorn.
The 26-year-old restricted free agent is out of contract at the end of this season, and his exit shapes as a disaster for Gold Coast.
As for Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, his time might also be up, not just for Gold Coast, but in the AFL.
Ugle-Hagan was also part of the Andrew disabled toilet fiasco.
While the Suns say there is no evidence of wrongdoing, a scandal is the last thing Ugle-Hagan needs after not featuring at AFL level at all in 2025 due to several issues.
The Suns threw Ugle-Hagan a lifeline ahead of this season, but he has only managed three AFL games so far and di not play VFL on the weekend.
“I think the Gold Coast Suns will offer Jamarra Ugle-Hagan a new deal if he wants it,” Morris said on Tuesday night.
“The doubt at the moment, or there is some doubt as to whether he has the motivation to continue.
“That’s the feeling at the moment. He’s been playing VFL. He didn’t play on the weekend. They all hope he can go on, but at the moment there is some doubt over whether he really absolutely wants to take this career by the scruff of the neck and have a long-term journey in the AFL.”
