“Disaster”: Has Dimma given up on the Suns?

Damien Hardwick’s post-match press conference after Gold Coast’s 79-point loss to the Adelaide Crows was a bit odd.

The Suns coach effectively said his side couldn’t play finals in 2026 after a seventh straight loss which has them sitting 14th on the ladder.

“End of the day, we've got six weeks. This year is effectively gone,” he told reporters.

“What we've got to do is forge our way forward about what we want ourselves to look like for next year, from my point of view.

“It becomes pretty much mathematically impossible, doesn’t it, at this stage. Or close, thereabouts.

“The way we're playing, we don't deserve to make it."

They were strange comments from Hardwick. It appears as though he’s thrown in the towel.

The Suns still have six games to win and currently sit just four points out of the wildcard spots, so they technically can still have a say in this campaign.

But maybe Hardwick is not seeing enough to have any faith in his team.

SEN’s Tom Morris wonders if Dimma has lost it.

“Has Damien Hardwick completely lost his marbles?,” Morris asked on SEN Breakfast.

“It’s not mathematically impossible at all. If they win five of their last six they could make it. If they win six of six they definitely make it.

“With the talent on their list they should be looking to win every game. What’s he talking about?”

Co-host Sam Edmund could not put his finger on what has gone wrong at the Suns.

He wonders why this talent-laden midfield group have underperformed so drastically.

“A lot of people had them right at the pointy end so the expectations around this side were absolutely huge,” he said.

“There’s only side that’s given up at the moment and it’s Gold Coast. It’s an extraordinary admission from the coach.

“When you think about everything they normally sell publicly, and I’m sure privately, is hope and ambition. What do we always hear? ‘If you’re not striving to play finals then what’s the point’.

“He’s thrown the towel in with six rounds to go and they’re a game out. I thought it was an extraordinary press conference for a number of reasons.

“It does point to the exasperation in the coach. They’ve lost seven in a row, they’ve got a star-studded midfield that is now ranked dead and utter last in clearance.

“There’s got to be something that we’re not privy to the details of behind the scenes that’s not working out. There’s no other explanation for the fact this side could fall as hard and as fast, they’re in complete and utter free-fall at the moment.

“It’s hard to see where their next win is coming from. They had the talent and the platform to achieve so much more out of 2026.”

Morris believes the way this season has panned out is a “disaster” for the Suns who after winning their first final last year were expected to genuinely contend in 2026.

“It’s a disaster for the club,” he said further.

“Is there an argument that Damien Hardwick has completely lost his mojo as a coach? That whatever he had at Richmond, which was remarkable, he hasn’t been able to rediscover at the Suns.

“There were good signs last year but the next stage is harder.

“How do the players respond to this now?

“If you’re a player and you’re being told that mathematically you can’t play finals even though simple maths says you absolutely can, how are you responding to that.”

Edmund added: “It can’t bode well. There’s something wrong behind the curtain up there.”

The Suns meet the Western Bulldogs at home next Sunday before fixtures against Carlton (away), Melbourne (home), GWS (away), Brisbane (away) and St Kilda (away).