THERE'S a pattern with Damien Hardwick, and it goes like this: he says something he shouldn't in the heat of a moment, it offends people, he regrets it, then he walks it back through a contrived smile and meaningless references to family members admonishing him.

From, "I was out of line" – used after he attacked Swans coach John Longmire over a low-scoring game – to "I overstepped the mark" – used when he called Williamstown VFL players "weak f***ing p*****" in 2022 – to "I have to be better with that" – following this year's "Roman Colosseum" reference to perceived favourable umpire treatment in a match against Geelong – and many other similar moments in between, Hardwick has been in regular apology mode.

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Sometimes, in order to fully gloss over his behaviour, we have even got a self-deprecating reference to an admonishment from his mum or a "dressing down" from his wife to accompany a rueful smile.

Rinse, repeat.

Hardwick was out there making questionable comments again on Saturday night, after coaching the Gold Coast Suns, official favourites for the 2026 premiership in late March, to a seventh consecutive loss, against the Crows at Adelaide Oval.

Despite being just one game outside a wildcard finals position and with six matches remaining in the home-and-away season, Hardwick said the Suns' year was "effectively gone".

At the time of writing, Hardwick was yet to appear publicly since those Saturday night comments, but Gold Coast CEO Mark Evans on Monday cleverly offered a statement which better presented the Suns' position.

"That (Hardwick) comment was a reaction to how we felt after a performance well below our best, and what's needed to compete with the best in the competition," Evans said.

"All of our efforts have to go into getting improved performances – and wins. The ladder position, and chances of finals, come from that."

Every single person alive would have at least on one occasion said something they'd like to take back, and those who are hard-wired with competitive instincts, like Hardwick, have their emotions most exposed after setbacks or loss.

This is where Hardwick's continuing forays into problematic public statements in 2026 gets interesting, as unlike his time at Richmond, where he won the 2017, 2019 and 2020 premierships, he doesn't have success on which to be cushioned when he's in the negative spotlight.

The Richmond version of Hardwick, the one winning flags, wouldn't have dared write off a season off football with more than 25 per cent of it still to be played.

The playing version of Hardwick, which won premierships at Essendon and Port Adelaide, would have hated his coaches Kevin Sheedy or Mark Williams to be so defeatist, to be looking to next year in mid-July.

That version of Hardwick would have not have publicly conceded failure as Hardwick the Suns coach did on Saturday night when he said: "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. The way we're playing, we don't deserve to make it."

With such defeatist words now hovering on the public airwaves, trying to convince his underperforming players to elevate attitudes and performances in the final six matches of the year is going to prove problematic. If the coach has checked out, what's the point?

Hardwick hasn't felt he's answerable to anyone at a football club for a very long time. The best often don't feel they are answerable to anyone. It is both the most powerful tool at a successful coach's disposal and his most dangerous.

When you're winning flags, it really doesn't matter how you carry yourself. Many actions of many people at the Richmond Football Club in 2020, the first of the COVID-marred AFL seasons, was proof of that – and still causes people from other clubs to react with anger – as the Tigers successfully sought to add that year's premiership to the 2019 and 2017 successes.

An elimination final win in 2025, while a huge achievement for the Suns, was supposed to merely be the start of a run of finals campaigns, and Evans and Suns chairman Bob East didn't sack Stuart Dew in order to appoint Hardwick, only for him to throw in a white towel on a season just 65 matches into their time together.

In 2026, the Suns were unbeaten after three matches. After 10 games, they were 7-3. They haven't won since.

Evans and East would be within their rights to sit Hardwick down before Sunday's match against Western Bulldogs, and demand two things. One, that he stops all forms of public sulking. 

And two, and more importantly, that they get back the competitive Hardwick, not the quitter. Something resembling Hardwick the player, who in the final match of his uncompromising 207-game career, the 2004 Grand Final, refused to consider losing to the mighty Brisbane, and who niggled and annoyed and harassed Jonathan Brown, Jason Akermanis, Simon Black and others on the way to a famous Port Adelaide victory.

That version of Hardwick wouldn't dare quit on a season with six matches still to be played.

X: @barrettdamian