Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has hit back at outsiders taking pot shots at his club, saying it's easy to "throw stones from over the fence".
And Hardwick has made an impassioned pitch to retain star forward Ben King, declaring the Suns' environment the best place for the Coleman Medal leader to thrive.
Gold Coast started the season as one of the premiership favourites, but are currently clinging to ninth spot with a 7-7 record on the back of four consecutive losses.
The Suns' task won't get any easier on Sunday when they face ladder leaders Fremantle in Perth.
King leads the Coleman Medal race with 42 goals, and it's believed Hawthorn are keen to lure the restricted free agent their way at the end of the season.
Former Port Adelaide star Kane Cornes has told Hawthorn to run away from any deal, declaring King not worth the big money given how lowly he ranks for marks inside 50m, contested marks and score involvements.
St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt labelled King a one-trick pony, saying he wasn't surprised the Victorian has only nabbed one top-10 finish in Gold Coast's best and fairest award.
The comments came on the back of King tallying just 1.1 from four disposals in last week's loss to Hawthorn.
Hardwick wants King to re-sign with Gold Coast, and will give him all the time he needs to make a decision.
"All Ben's got to know is we'd love him to stay," Hardwick said on Friday.
"The decision might be next week, it might be four weeks, it might be the end of the year - we just give him the time and space.
"All we ask is that he looks at our environment - we think it's the best place for him to play his football going forward."
Ben King turns on the jets and slots it on the run 💨#AFLLionsSuns pic.twitter.com/12RHlaGsMD
— AFL (@AFL) February 26, 2026
The Suns aren't getting bang for their buck from their star-studded midfield, with the club ranked 16th for clearances despite boasting the likes of Christian Petracca, Touk Miller, Matt Rowell and Noah Anderson.
Outside criticism directed at Suns players has been coming thick and fast in recent weeks, and Hardwick hit back on Friday.
"The game is a tough game to play. You know what's easy to do? Sit there and throw stones from over the fence," Hardwick said.
"We just disregard the outside noise. People within the media ... their job is to create headlines and to create these distractions.
"And the problem is, what happens is they're on TV, they're on radio, and they're in print.
"So what becomes their opinion all of a sudden, because it's in three forms of media, becomes bona fide fact.
"Well, that's not true. It's not the case. All the players have got to do, and our players do a great job, is listen to our coaches."
