Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick is denying there are out-of-the-ordinary tensions between his players and coaching staff, but admitted there have been “big boy” conversations recently which are are normal within a high-performance industry.
On Monday, 7SPORT expert Tom Morris said it was his belief that Hardwick’s connection to his players and their connection to him was “as strained as it’s been in his time at the club”.
“It’s causing issues all over the place, both on the field and behind the scenes as well, from a contractual perspective. It’s not just Damien Hardwick the issue here, it’s also the players and the wider scope of Gold Coast,” Morris said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.
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Reporters quizzed Hardwick about those “strained” relationships on Wednesday.
“There’s no need to respond. The fact of the matter is we’re in an AFL environment,” Hardwick said.
“There’s going to be tension within footy clubs, especially when you’re not performing.
“So I’d probably argue or challenge anyone that hasn’t got tension in their club that they’re not in a high-performance environment. We had big boy conversations, there’s no doubt about that, and we’re on the same page.
“The fact of the matter is, in team meetings, in reviews, you sort of sit there and provide clarity for the players and you walk out aligned.
“These stories tend to stem around, I reckon, when all of a sudden people think there’s a little bit of an issue. There’s no issue. So from our point of view, it’s a non-event.
“It’s something that is, I don’t know, in Melbourne or whatever it is, sources and all these sort of things, but for me, we just move on pretty quickly.”
Hardwick was also asked about his players who have been getting visibly frustrated on the field.
“Are they going a bit further than normal with their frustrations towards each other?” Hardwick was asked.
But the premiership coach again denied it was out of the ordinary.
“I don’t think so. I think what they’ve got is an understanding of, once again, how we want to play,” he said.
“Great leadership demands that players take action on field.
“I sort of looked at some of our decisions that we made in that last quarter (against Geelong) and our players were making motion that that’s not the required plan and they sat there and communicated that.
“That’s the art of leadership and sometimes accepting feedback and giving feedback is challenging at times especially in a high pressure environment such as an AFL game.
“So once again, they can all get better, I can get better, we can all move through it.
“What the players and what people have got to understand is the players are trying to get an immediate response or a certain situation rectified quickly. And sometimes it might look demonstrative but I guarantee you, if you look at every game of the AFL on the weekend, you’ll see those sort of signals from every side.
“Sometimes what happens when your side has a couple of losses, we put the microscope on that side.”
Morris again doubled down on his report on Tuesday, suggesting there was “a strong chance” Hardwick may not be aware “of the level of dissatisfaction among some players towards him and his coaching panel”.
Morris said rift was a strong word to use but there was “competitive tension” and “a disconnect between the coaches and the players” and it went both ways.
“I also think Damien Hardwick went into the Gold Coast Suns thinking that it’s going to rocket towards a flag, and all of a sudden he’s looking at it now, and they’re a mediocre team, and maybe he needs to reflect, and his assistant coaches (need to reflect) on how they’re leading the Gold Coast Suns.”
Gold Coast are ninth on the ladder and have a huge clash with Hawthorn on Friday night at People First Stadium.
Last week they were belted by Geelong by 45 points, which followed losses to North Melbourne and Brisbane Lions.
In the shock loss to North, they were leading by 43 points before the AFL struggler mounted a huge comeback at Marvel and stunned Hardwick and his team hot-shots.
AFL great Kane Cornes has taken aim at the players, saying it’s an “embarrassing reflection” on them.
“As a player, when you’re at a poor club, you immediately look to blame someone. You forget to look at yourself,” Cornes said.
“And this is the problem with this playing group is that they’ve become comfortable for whatever reason, because there’s been some great individual awards and we’ve lauded them and said, look, premiership favourites this year, start the season well, and you get ahead of yourself.
“Now, the minute it goes off track, you refuse to show any sort of resilience, and you look to get in your small groups and to blame someone for the position that you’re in.
“And it sounds to me like the players are blaming the coach. Now, not to say that he doesn’t have major responsibility in this. Of course he’s got the majority of responsibility in this.
“But that is a pretty ordinary look if this is a playing group that is starting to make excuses about a coach that’s got three premierships in his trophy cabinet.
“This is an embarrassing reflection on the playing group, if that’s what it is.”
