Suns to demand AFL answers over 'manhandled' forwards
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick intends to have a "very strong conversation" with the AFL umpiring department after accusing St Kilda of manhandling his key forwards.
Ben King, Jed Walter and Ethan Read managed just three goals between them in the Suns' 12.8 (80) to 8.13 (61) win at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
Coleman Medal contender King didn't have a kick for three quarters, kept quiet by Callum Wilkie, but finished with two important goals in the final term.
Walter kicked one major from nine disposals and Read was scoreless from five touches before being subbed out in the third quarter.
Hardwick admitted his charges were down on form against the Saints but wasn't happy with what he perceived as unfair treatment by opposition defenders.
"There'll be a very strong conversation coming from my coaching panel to the umpiring fraternity this week," Hardwick said.
"We didn't get a hell of a lot of reward for our one-on-one contests.
"You can sit there and you want an even battle, and we understand that, but I thought our guys were manhandled all day today.
"They're young and they're inexperienced, so they'll get better at handling it, but they've also got to be given a fair chance."
Hardwick's demands from the umpiring department will be straightforward.
"Just some clarification around what we can and can't do, but more importantly how our players can combat it," he said.
"Like, what do you want to see from our guys?
"We don't want them to play for free kicks but we also want them to be able to run and jump at the ball."
Hardwick intends to keep playing the three talls together in attack, with the Suns next meeting a Fremantle side set to be without key defender Alex Pearce through suspension.
"We understand they're going to have ups and downs," Hardwick said.
"There's two teenagers there and Kingy, who's plying his craft. I thought he kicked some really important goals late (against St Kilda).
"But they'll learn from it, they'll grow from it and we've got to remember they're 19 years of age.
"There's not many other clubs around the AFL that are playing two 19-year-old key forwards. They're going to be wonderful players for a long period of time for us."
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