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Their past month alone has seen the club better only wooden spooners West Coast in points against from turnover in worrying signs for Hardwick.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Sunday, Leigh Montagna fears the Suns may now be too stacked for talent \u2013 and as a result don\u2019t have the \u201csoldiers\u201d needed to put the side back in premiership contention.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a team that were primed, they were ready. Damien Hardwick had the list, everything that he wanted to be able to contend for the flag,\u201d Montagna said on First Crack.<\/p>\n
‘Irate’ spray inspires Hawks ANZAC win | 02:51<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are stacked with talent this team \u2013 but that may be the problem for Damien Hardwick.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may have a team that\u2019s got too many stars. Too many stars and not enough soldiers.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think about Damien Hardwick teams, his system and the way that he sets it up for their stars \u2013 he needs those complimentary role players.\u201d
Montagna named Tigers premiership winners Jason Castagna, Shaun Grigg, Shane Edwards, Kane Lambert and Jacob Townsend as examples of the type of players Hardwick had during his success at Richmond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had a heap of guys that complimented the stars. And I just wonder whether the Gold Coast Suns actually have those role players and who they are because it\u2019s staggering when you look at the team that played on the weekend,\u201d Montagna said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had 11 top 10 draft picks play, only five players in that team were not drafted in the top 30 in the national draft.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wonder if they\u2019re all thinking about their own footy? They want the ball \u2013 they are used to always having ball in hand, but are they doing enough?\u201d<\/p>\n
As vision of Touk Miller, Petracca, Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson played from the loss to Hawthorn, Montagna pulled out repeat moments where the Hawks were able to clear the congestion with ease.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened all game against the Hawks,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s natural for the superstars and best players to get attracted to the footy. They are all ball watching. When Hawthorn won the ball back, they couldn\u2019t go with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey weren\u2019t thinking about defence when the ball was in motion or live \u2013 they were thinking about how do I get the ball? It\u2019s natural instinct when you are one of the better players of the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey weren\u2019t able to lay a glove on them!<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wonder which players now for the Gold Coast \u2026 which one of the leaders is going to be more selfless? Become the Trent Cotchin of those premiership eras. Which of the young players, who are all top end draft picks, Zeke Uwland and Jake Rogers, Leo Lombard, which one of them can go: \u2018I\u2019m going to earn my respect in this team by playing whatever the team need me to for\u2019.<\/p>\n
‘BAFFLING’ Hardwick fumes over ump calls | 04:28<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s holding them back from being a premiership contender.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dual premiership Roo David King believes the Suns woes are \u201cattitudinal\u201d with their lack of pressure \u2013 and he\u2019s called for a big shift in role for superstar Petracca.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking at the pressure around the footy \u2013 they average 173 a week which is bottom six in the competition,\u201d he said on First Crack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho in the midfield is prepared to go and put some pressure on? Where\u2019s the real heat?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d get Petracca out of the midfield for three weeks \u2013 I\u2019d put him in the forward half of the ground where we know he can be a star.\u201d<\/p>\n
First Crack co-host Jay Clark questioned why the Suns would shift a player described as \u201cthe recruit of the year\u201d, but King pointed to Gold Coast\u2019s rise in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe (midfield) mix was really strong last year \u2026 it\u2019s been upset for some reason. And the only change that\u2019s happened in there has been Petracca,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you saying he\u2019s upset the apple cart?\u201d Clark questioned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s good for the player isn\u2019t always good for the team,\u201d King responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not potting (Petracca) as a player or a product \u2013 it\u2019s the mix. They\u2019ve got so many options to have a look at.<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019re at Rd 7. It is time to have a look.<\/p>\n
The Suns leave the field after another tough loss.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe go one step backwards to correct this (lack of pressure) first and then reintegrate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they either change this (lack of pressure) and recover over the next few weeks \u2013 or they don\u2019t change it and become an also ran. It\u2019s as simple as that for the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they don\u2019t get defensively geared \u2013 Damien Hardwick teams have been defend first and then go at speed \u2013 this is ass about. They\u2019ve got to get their heads out of their you know what and get their season back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Suns will take on GWS next weekend before their two-match stretch in the Northern Territory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Gold Coast Suns woes may stem from having too much talent, Fox Footy\u2019s experts have warned, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,305226,108333,64,63,689,55,639,262452,9203,306071,14385,15832,306073,3496,48815,2105,2485,9130,49807,306069,19125,306068,3465,12157,647,7804,306067,25844,8867,677,41653,15826,294457,32911,701,28008,306072,269067,64097,12936,306070,228972,85,104403,39223,80099,104448,660,19121],"class_list":{"0":"post-632051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-afternoon-encounter","10":"tag-apple-cart","11":"tag-au","12":"tag-australia","13":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","14":"tag-australian-football-league","15":"tag-australianfootballleague","16":"tag-ball-watching","17":"tag-catherine-healey","18":"tag-complimentary-role-players","19":"tag-damien-hardwick","20":"tag-draft-picks","21":"tag-draft-picks-play","22":"tag-dual-premiership","23":"tag-form-slump","24":"tag-getty-images-inc","25":"tag-gold-coast","26":"tag-gold-coast-suns","27":"tag-jake-rogers","28":"tag-jason-castagna","29":"tag-jay-clark","30":"tag-kane-lambert-jacob-townsend","31":"tag-leigh-montagna","32":"tag-matt-rowell","33":"tag-melbourne","34":"tag-melbourne-demons","35":"tag-near-record-worst","36":"tag-noah-anderson","37":"tag-northern-territory","38":"tag-oceania","39":"tag-premiership-contender","40":"tag-premiership-contention","41":"tag-premiership-eras","42":"tag-premiership-winners","43":"tag-queensland","44":"tag-quinn-rooney","45":"tag-real-heat","46":"tag-role-players","47":"tag-roo-david-king","48":"tag-sam-mitchell","49":"tag-shane-edwards","50":"tag-shaun-grigg","51":"tag-sports","52":"tag-tough-call","53":"tag-touk-miller","54":"tag-trent-cotchin","55":"tag-umpiring-decisions","56":"tag-victoria","57":"tag-young-players"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}