{"id":856598,"date":"2026-08-15T21:52:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T21:52:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/856598\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T21:52:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T21:52:13","slug":"afl-hardwick-admits-he-cant-unlock-suns-star-petracca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/856598\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL: Hardwick admits he can\u2019t unlock Suns star Petracca"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick admits he\u2019s yet to work out how to get the best from his prized recruit Christian Petracca following another quiet performance from the former Melbourne star.<\/p>\n

Playing in the forward line, Petracca had no influence on Saturday at the Gabba as the Suns\u2019 poor 2026 campaign continued with a 42-point QClash loss to the Brisbane Lions.<\/p>\n

Petracca accumulated only 12 possessions following disposal tallies of 14 and 16 in his previous two games.<\/p>\n

He also hasn\u2019t kicked a goal in his past four matches, with Gold Coast\u2019s use of him in the forwards, rather than the midfield, failing to benefit the Suns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s had a bit of a downturn in form,\u201d Hardwick said of Petracca.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to find how I can best use him, and that\u2019s up to me to figure it out. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had some really good conversations, and he will do whatever I want for the benefit of the team. That\u2019s a great thing about Christian.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a guy that has come from a background in Melbourne where he was the (Demons\u2019) best player, a Norm Smith medallist \u2026 and what I\u2019m after from Christian is a little bit different up here.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis legacy to me is to help us change the fortunes of the Gold Coast Suns, and he\u2019s pulling his part in that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got to get better at utilising him to his absolute strength. I haven\u2019t found that right lever yet. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had it at the start of the year. It\u2019s probably drifted off a little bit, so we\u2019ll work on that.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I will say is our communication with each other is very, very good, so we\u2019ll work through that and we\u2019ll get it better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petracca wasn\u2019t the only Suns player who failed to fire in Gold Coast\u2019s 14.11 (95) to 6.17 (53) loss.<\/p>\n

However, Gold Coast was still in the contest in the third-quarter, with Hardwick left to lament the Suns\u2019 lack of \u201cpolish\u201d after an 11th loss from their past 12 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were ample opportunities where we could have had some scoreboard damage, and the kick-in offence was very good as well, so it was like a double-edged sword,\u201d Hardwick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d have a shot on goal, miss a relatively simple one, then they\u2019d go back down the other end. That\u2019s what a good side does. They punish you when they have the ability to do so. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe just couldn\u2019t quite get the pattern and system right, which is frustrating.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were just more polished. We just made it look hard, and they\u2019re a cleaner and more polished side at the moment, and they got better results going inside 50.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe gave them four goals \u2026 just through blatant errors, not necessarily Brisbane\u2019s good play, so they\u2019re things that we can rectify and get better at.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Suns\u2019 disappointing season comes to an end on Thursday night against St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n

Originally published as Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick admits struggle to get best from prized recruit Christian Petracca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick admits he\u2019s yet to work out how to get the best from his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[426833,426800,426828,426840,28329,235266,426832,395393,426830,426804,376963,426808,426835,426817,384368,426826,426805,381871,380489,407482,426837,386106,638,426824,426809,382524,426829,64,63,55,639,426834,15585,426818,651,3237,278347,9832,19120,14385,24706,15906,283456,379391,13148,426810,426815,426822,97373,2485,426807,9130,88982,426801,384747,426838,426839,426819,426836,128134,16691,647,43961,35062,404620,388615,426811,426798,403586,364616,426821,426816,94,46907,426803,426806,85,1122,95358,9391,426813,378040,388329,381352,426820,377455,426831,422535,426827,426823,5338,403702,426799,408186,225862,426812,377440,426802,426825,376950,187456,315971,398461,378969,426814,9357,426797],"class_list":["post-856598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-14-11","tag-s-good-play","tag-s-use","tag-14-and-16","tag-28329","tag-235266","tag-6-17","tag-395393","tag-a-42-point-qclash-loss","tag-a-background","tag-a-bit","tag-a-cleaner-and-more-polished-side","tag-a-double-edged-sword","tag-a-downturn","tag-a-goal","tag-a-good-side","tag-a-great-thing","tag-a-guy","tag-a-little-bit","tag-a-norm-smith-medallist","tag-a-relatively-simple-one","tag-a-shot","tag-afl","tag-ample-opportunities","tag-an-11th-loss","tag-an-end","tag-another-quiet-performance","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-best-player","tag-better-results","tag-blatant-errors","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-brisbane-qld","tag-christian","tag-christian-petracca","tag-damien-hardwick","tag-demons","tag-disappointing-season","tag-disposal-tallies","tag-each-other","tag-form","tag-form-struggle","tag-former-melbourne-star-christian-petracca","tag-four-goals","tag-goal","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-coach-damien-hardwick","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-hardwick","tag-his-absolute-strength","tag-his-legacy","tag-his-part","tag-his-past-four-matches","tag-his-previous-two-games-he","tag-his-prized-recruit-christian-petracca","tag-lack","tag-marvel-stadium","tag-melbourne","tag-newswire-sport","tag-night","tag-no-influence","tag-one-thing","tag-only-12-possessions","tag-our-communication","tag-petracca","tag-polish","tag-poor-2026-campaign","tag-prized-recruit-christian-petracca","tag-qld","tag-saturday","tag-some-really-good-conversations","tag-some-scoreboard-damage","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-struggle","tag-suns","tag-that-right-lever","tag-the-ability","tag-the-benefit","tag-the-best","tag-the-brisbane-lions-petracca","tag-the-contest","tag-the-former-melbourne-star","tag-the-fortunes","tag-the-forward-line","tag-the-forwards","tag-the-gabba","tag-the-gold-coast-suns","tag-the-kick-in-offence","tag-the-midfield","tag-the-moment","tag-the-only-suns-player","tag-the-other-end","tag-the-pattern-and-system-right","tag-the-right-way","tag-the-start","tag-the-suns","tag-the-team","tag-the-third-quarter","tag-the-year","tag-their-past-12-games","tag-thursday","tag-unlock-star-recruit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856598","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=856598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}