TWO POSSIBLE deliberately rushed behind calls that were not paid have angered Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade after the Suns' six-point loss to bottom-placed Essendon.
Irishman Conor McKenna soccered one through from well outside the goalsquare despite appearing to be under little pressure midway through the last quarter, ands Martin Gleeson rushed one through soon afterwards, also a long way from the goal line.
Eade could not fathom how the umpires did not decide in Gold Coast's favour.
"I thought two of them were definite free kicks. I don't know why they weren't paid," he said after the game.
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"The first one was from nearly 20m away. I don't know how that's missed, to be honest. The next one's probably borderline. There probably wasn't enough pressure (to legally rush it through).
"We got clarity on that (from the AFL earlier this year), and I thought it was pretty clear. So that, to me, was black and white."
The controversial rule came under scrutiny about a month ago after North Melbourne's Michael Firrito was penalised for handballing a behind from inside the goalsquare, despite being tackled by Port Adelaide's Charlie Dixon.
Umpires coach Hayden Kennedy said that decision was correct, but the AFL would later clarify the rule with the coaches.
Eade said his understanding of the rule was that if the ball was rushed through from outside the goalsquare, the team in defence would concede a free kick.
"That was the indication we got. The first one, as I said, (was) 20m away, and the next one was borderline, was just outside it as well, with not a lot of pressure," he said.
"(We'll) certainly be seeking some clarity on that."
Overall, the Suns were awarded 19 free kicks to Essendon's nine.
Despite having lost their past two games heading into the clash with Essendon, the Suns had won plaudits for their competitiveness in their eight-point loss to the finals-bound Greater Western Sydney the previous round.
"You see it with young teams … that get a pat on the back, then get comfortable," Eade said.
"I don't think it's taking the opposition lightly or just thinking it's going to happen, it's just, 'We're going OK', so they don't bring that level of intensity that's required. That's a learning curve for the young guys."
Gold Coast dominated the inside-50 count 69-44, but managed just nine goals. While the Suns' tall forward trio of Tom Lynch, Peter Wright and Sam Day looked dangerous when given an opportunity, too often they were on the end of poor delivery.
"There were a lot of individuals who wanted to do their own thing – not kicking to right spots, not hitting the right options, doing their own things, which was probably the most disappointing part," Eade said.
The Suns have a six-day break before playing Collingwood on Saturday night at Etihad Stadium. They will stay in Melbourne ahead of that clash and their training schedule will not change, but Eade said they would have gone home if his side had been scheduled an extra day's rest, or was in finals contention.
