Damien Hardwick left seething as controversial free kick seals match

Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick was left fuming after a controversial free kick sealed his club’s fate against St Kilda.

3 min read

June 9, 2024 - 10:08AM

Controversy explodes in Suns vs Saints

Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick has been left seeing red after a controversial free kick in the dying stages of his club’s loss to St Kilda.

The Saints held on for a three-point victory after Max King kicked the game-deciding goal thanks to a contentious free kick.

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With a little over three minutes remaining in the contest, King was deep in the forward line with Suns defender Mac Andrew.

As the Saints launched forward from the middle of the ground, an umpire blew his whistle and awarded a free kick to King.

Andrew had been penalised for holding the Saints star forward at the top of the square, a long way off the ball.

Although it appeared as though both players were holding each other, Andrew was the one who was punished. It gifted King a rare shot at goal from directly in front, and it ended up being the final score in the Saints’ win.

Hardwick was not happy at all in the moment as he was seen throwing his arms in the air and spoke out about the incident during his post-game press conference.

The moment the free kick was paid. A long way off the ball. Credit: Channel 7

“It was clearly, in my view, a free kick that was unwarranted,” Hardwick said.

“Those guys are battling all day. The umpire calls it. That’s his job. But unwarranted for mine.

“There is going to be contact, and incidental contact, from time to time.

“It’s a challenge. The game is incredibly tough and we understand that, but as long as they (umpires) are consistent, that’s all we ask for.”

Hardwick agreed Andrew would probably be devastated by the match-defining incident in what was a dour affair that only produced 14 goals in total.

“You ride the bumps and you’ll learn from it, you’ll get better at it,” Hardwick said.

“But when two guys are going toe-to-toe, one’s grabbing, the other one’s grabbing, it’s like, well, which way do you go?

“He (umpire) was probably only looking at one person trying to give away the free kick and it was the defender so that’s life. We move on.”

The controversial free kick incident didn’t go down well with footy fans with Fox Footy’s Jack Riewoldt telling it like it is in commentary.

“That is absolutely not a free kick,” Riewoldt said.

“(Hardwick) would be looking at that and he’d be filthy.”

Luke Darcy in commentary for Channel 7 noted the free kick was paid “about 100 metres” off the ball.

As replays rolled, Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling struggled to come to terms with the decision: “Little bit of a tangle-up. I don’t like that. I’m not a fan of that at all,” Ling said.

Ex-Essendon captain Jobe Watson added: “Lot of off-the-ball (touches) — both players doing it to each other. There wasn’t an obvious pull-back from Andrew on King.”

King capitalised to seal the Saints win. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

As for the game itself, Hardwick described it as “terrible” and “horrific”, and understandably so.

Aside from the thrilling finish, the contest certainly was not one for the time capsule and featured sub-par skills from both teams.

“It’s not a game that I love to be honest,” Hardwick said.

“It was 125 uncontested marks (for Gold Coast) going backwards, sideways. We couldn’t find a way through.

“Credit where credit’s due. They defended really well. It’s a different defence than we’ve been up against before.

“We sort of knew it was coming, but we just didn’t handle it too well.

“The Saints just strangled us. They did a good job of that and got the game on their terms … that’s what (St Kilda coach) Ross (Lyon) does really, really well.