‘Mum’s basement’: Hardwick fumes after crowd altercation
An angry Damien Hardwick is unhappy with having to walk through the crowd at the Adelaide Oval, after an interaction with a fan during Gold Coast’s loss to Adelaide on Saturday night.As he walked to the ground at three-quarter time, Hardwick had a verbal altercation with a fan.AdvertisementThe ground is unique in that coaches must walk through the crowd effectively to get from the box to the field.It has led to frustration, with Geelong coach Chris Scott voicing similar complaints earlier in the season.Hardwick didn’t hold back with his thoughts after the match.“Walking through here, and I understand people are going to say stuff, and I’ve got to be better, but end of the day, those sorts of people are the guys that live in their mum’s basements and type on bloody social media forums and all that sort of stuff,” Hardwick told reporters.“I’ve got to be better, like I said, but we’ve got to do something about it. It’s a dangerous position to put us in, first and foremost, security is OK, but we don’t need people being peanuts about it. Get out of the basement, mate.”Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks stepped in to defend Hardwick, saying fans need to be held accountable.“I don’t think any coach should have to put up with that, and I don’t know the ins and outs, I’ve obviously heard talk about it, but for a coach to be subject to abuse – if it is abuse – I mean I’d say to our members and our fans, we’re not here for that,” Nicks said.Advertisement“We’re here to enjoy watching a great game of footy, and our boys put on a show tonight, so just enjoy it ... You’d like to think we don’t have to take that away, because there are some, I guess, pluses that come with that when your team’s up and performing well.”A “disappointed” David King said fans like that Crows supporter are “ruining” the sport’s unparalleled access for everyone else.“It really angers me that fans feel the need to do that,” the North Melbourne champion said on Fox Footy.“We’ve got the best venues to go and watch football, the crowd can get as close to the players as any other sport … and I just think they’re ruining it.AdvertisementAdvertisement“Peanuts like that, having something to say to the coach that’s clearly derogatory - (because) Damien doesn’t respond to idle chat.“I think it’s really disappointing. I hope there’s some retribution for that guy, not Damien.”Hardwick’s Suns were thrashed by 79 points in Adelaide, marking their seventh straight defeat. They now sit 14th on the ladder after entering the season among the flag hopefuls.AdvertisementAfter round three the Suns were first on the ladder and premiership favourites with odds makers. Now Hardwick concedes their season is in tatters.“End of the day, we’ve got six weeks, this year is effectively gone, 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,” Hardwick said.“The way we’re playing, we don’t deserve to make it.”Gold Coast hosts the Western Bulldogs in round 19 and still technically only sit one win outside of 10th spot on the ladder, meaning a wildcard berth remains possible.AdvertisementAdvertisementFormer Richmond star Nathan Brown was surprised by the Suns coach throwing in the towel.“Wouldn’t the players now think they’re wasting their time turning up over the next six weeks (after Hardwick’s comments)?” Brown asked on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd believes Hardwick was simply being a “realist”.“He would be thinking ‘the next seven weeks are about next year, because we’re not going to be a factor at all’,” Lloyd said.Advertisement“It’s a realist attitude. It’s an honest coach sitting there.”
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