DAMIEN Hardwick has spoken to Matt Rowell about umpire contact this week, saying he will also go into bat for the "protection" of his star midfielder from opponents via a meeting with the AFL.

Rowell has been the poster boy for the League's crackdown on careless umpire contact and was again in the spotlight during Gold Coast's win over Essendon at the weekend with a couple of near misses.

One more indiscretion could see the 24-year-old sent to the Tribunal with the possibility of either a hefty fine or suspension.

Speaking ahead of Friday night's blockbuster against Collingwood, Hardwick said he had spoken to Rowell and was also looking forward to his monthly meeting with the competition's governing body.

He had one topic on his mind.

"It's also incumbent on the umpires to protect the ball players as well, so that's probably more the line of questioning we'll go down," Hardwick said.

"We also understand that Matt, and me in particular, have a duty of care to not run into the umpires. We've got to make sure we look after them.

"We've spoken this week about it a little bit."

Hardwick's hint that he wanted more protection for Rowell comes just weeks after Collingwood counterpart Craig McRae went into bat for his main man Nick Daicos, and the treatment he received from opponents.

The pair will square off in the middle of People First Stadium on Friday night, with Hardwick suggesting neither team is likely to get caught up in tagging their opponents.

"I think me and 'Fly' have the same philosophy on that, we manage, we don't tag," he said.

"We'll have plans when opposition players get out of hand, but we like the very best players to have to defend at some stage also.

"There'll be a lot of head-to-head stuff, but not much tagging.

"It's going to be a formidable challenge, but one we're looking forward to. We're up for the fight.

"People will talk about it being a big game, but we like to think we play a big-game brand of football.

"We're going to get the greatest of tests."

Hardwick said he was "relatively confident" full-back Sam Collins would resume his place in the Suns' backline, despite the vice-captain only walking laps at Wednesday's training session as he battles to overcome a calf strain.