AFL clubs at war over ugly ‘nepo baby’ sledge

An ugly storm has erupted between two AFL clubs after one coach claimed a rival team was the “AFL’s nepo baby”.

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has hit back at rival Ross Lyon’s claims that the Suns are the “AFL’s nepo baby” following his side’s 19-point win on Sunday.

Lyon had been speaking with Fox Footy pre-game when he made the bold claim, stating the Suns were “chock full of talent”.

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One AFL recruiter has told Foxfooty.com.au four of the top 10 in the 2025 Draft could come from the Gold Coast Suns’ Academy in more promising signs for the club’s young talent.

But when asked on Lyon’s statement, Hardwick was quick to turn the tables on his rival.

“Nepo baby?” he laughed when asked directly on the comment.

“Oh, it’s a little bit disrespectful I think.

“Trust me, I’ve played, been at Richmond. I’ve come to the Gold Coast – we don’t get a lot.

“What probably St Kilda should do is make sure they focus on their own backyard instead of trying to bring everyone else down.

“We had 13,000 people here today (at St Kilda’s home Marvel Stadium game).

“We’ll just focus on Gold Coast, they should focus on themselves.

“End of the day, the first place you need to look is interim. So focus on them, we’ll focus on us.”

You can watch Hardwick’s response in the video at the top of the page

Damien Hardwick hit back at Ross Lyon calling Gold Coast the AFL's nepo baby.

Hardwick was then asked if he’d speak to Lyon about the “nepo baby” quip, to which he replied “No, not particularly”.

A total of 13,486 fans attended St Kilda’s clash with the Suns in the Sunday twilight fixture.

It’s now the club’s lowest ever crowd at Marvel Stadium – surpassing the former record of 14,018 set back in Round 19, 2001 against Port Adelaide.

The attendance total is the 10th worst in Docklands venue history, with Melbourne holding the worst record of just 8974 for their 2015 clash with GWS.

However Suns-Saints games on the Gold Coast have drawn a larger crowd than seen on Sunday just twice, in 2011 and 2016.

SEN reports Suns CEO Mark Evans also complained about the comment, speaking with his Saints counterpart Carl Dilena.

“I thought the comments were offensive and out of line,” Evans told SEN.

“If there is any club in the world that might have an understanding that progress isn’t always linear that would be St Kilda.”

Originally published as AFL clubs at war over ugly ‘nepo baby’ sledge