Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick ruled the free kick paid against his young defender Mac Andrew, leading to the match-deciding goal for the Saints on Saturday nightas ‘unjustified’.
Andrew did a great job limiting Max King’s influence for most of the match at Marvel Stadium, but with just over three minutes remaining he was controversially penalized for leaving King at the top of the St. Kilda goal post kept far from the ball.
Although it looked like both players were holding each other, Andrew was the one being punished. It gave King a rare shot on target from right in front, and it ended up being the final score in the Saints’ thrilling three-point win.
“It was clearly a free-kick in my opinion that was not justified,” Hardwick said after the match.
‘Those boys have been fighting all day. The referee calls it. That’s his job. But unjustified for me.
Damien Hardwick (pictured) has been left frustrated after a controversial free-kick
‘There will be contact from time to time, and incidentally.
‘It is a challenge. The game is incredibly tough and we understand that, but as long as they (referees) are consistent, that’s all we’re asking for.”
Hardwick agreed that Andrew would likely have been devastated by the match-defining incident in a tricky affair that yielded just fourteen goals in total.
“You ride over the bumps and you learn from them, you get better at them,” Hardwick said.
“But when two guys go toe-to-toe, one grabs, the other grabs, it’s like, which way are you going?
“He (referee) was probably only looking at one person trying to give the free-kick away and that was the defender, so that’s life. We go on.’
The Suns had a chance to get into the top four this weekend if they beat bottom four Saints, but their quest for legitimacy away from home continues. Gold Coast has now lost its last 13 games on the road.
“We had an opportunity to take a step forward and we didn’t deliver,” Hardwick said.
With just over three minutes remaining, Mac Andrew was controversially penalized for holding Max King at the top of the St Kilda goal area, well away from the ball.
Max King converted moments later from the front right
‘It was an opportunity we missed and that’s frustrating.
‘Winning matches is difficult. With our level of maturity, and I’m afraid to say this because we choose to be young, but we are young, if that makes sense. We have to get better in that situation.
“We have to understand that an away game, the crowd and things like that create a cauldron-like atmosphere that we have to embrace. You can’t avoid things like that.’
As for the game itself, Hardwick described it as ‘terrible’ and ‘horrific’, and understandably so.
Aside from the exciting finish, the match was certainly not one for the time capsule and featured sub-par skills from both teams.
“It’s not a game I like, to be honest,” Hardwick said.
“It was 125 uncontested points (for Gold Coast) going backwards, sideways. We couldn’t find a passage.
‘Credit where credit is due. They defended very well. It’s a different defense than what we’ve faced before.
‘We knew it was coming, but we just didn’t handle it very well.
“The Saints just strangled us. They did that well and got the game on their terms… that’s what (St Kilda coach) Ross (Lyon) does really well.
“It’s a strength of theirs and we knew it would be like that. We’ll be better next time, but it’s frustrating to let a game slip.
‘We should have done that, we could have done that, but we didn’t win. We got our chances late, but we have to be better than this and more mature than this.”
Hardwick was furious at the free-kick that cost his Suns
Hardwick was one of the loudest voices calling for a change in the interpretation of ball retention and after getting his wish two weeks ago, and after a few teething problems, the Suns coach is confident the sport will improve will be for the stricter players. version of the rule in the long run.
“Players will adapt and improve accordingly,” Hardwick said.
“As long as we’re consistent and pay them consistently, I think we’ll be fine.”
