Dual All-Australian David King has uncovered the stark workrate distinction between Gold Coast gamers, declaring one “disrespectful” effort from top-10 decide Jack Lukosius on Sunday that “destroys any form of culture you have at your footy club”.
Essendon and the Suns have been stage at three quarter-time earlier than the Bombers kicked away, booting 5.6 to 1.2 within the fourth quarter to file a 28-point victory at Marvel Stadium.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s First Crack, King stated he was “in awe” of the trouble, perspective and utility of some Gold Coast gamers like Touk Miller, Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Jarrod Wittes, Nick Holman and Sam Collins.
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King was significantly complimentary of Rowell, highlighting two defensive efforts the place he sprinted lengthy distances to use stress on and disrupt the Bombers 100m run
“This is leadership. This oozes leadership to me and I say: ‘Mate, I take my hat off to you,’” King informed Fox Footy’s First Crack.
“I thought: ‘I just hope they win and show internally the highlights that you provided.’”
King then turned his consideration to key-position duo Charlie Ballard and Lukosius.
Defender Ballard frolicked on Essendon’s Kyle Langford, who booted a career-high 5 targets from 14 disposals and 7 marks in an impressive sport. But King stated Ballard’s efficiency on Langford was subpar.
“Charlie Ballard, I reckon he turned his toes up today,” King stated on Sunday.
“It was too hard for him today: ‘Not my day, Kyle Langford’s kicking goals on me’ – and he threw the towel in. Unacceptable.
“You’ve got to make a stand against that sort of behaviour. Mabior Chol paid a price at selection (by getting dropped).”
King then took goal at “the other whipping boy” in Lukosius after a defensive effort that was “not AFL standard”.
Vision on First Crack confirmed Lukosius, who re-signed with the Suns final yr till the tip of 2026, showing to point to Suns teammate Ben Ainsworth he would take duty for Bomber Nic Martin on the wing. But as Essendon moved the ball ahead, Martin ran away from Lukosius, who was at instances seen ball-watching. Martin would finally pounce on a unfastened ball inside 50 and handball to Matt Guelfi, who kicked a simple objective from point-blank vary.
“You know why he’s a whipping boy? Because he puts in efforts like this. This destroys any form of culture you have at your footy club,” King stated.
“Ainsworth says: ‘Hey, Jack, you take (Nic) Martin, I’ve got to hold my spot in the corridor’ … Now you commit to that and you see it through, because if you don’t see it through, you burn young players down back. (Ben) Long’s been there two games and this young fella (Bodhi) Uwland is just starting out.
“You can’t allow that to happen. That is so disrespectful.
“It makes me wonder: Is Jack the sickness or the cure? Is he there to correct this problem and take this club forward? He’s on big money and he’s been a high draft pick and all those things, but in the end, you act your way in and out of a footy club.
“I’d be fuming if I was a teammate seeing that and saying: ‘Is that the best you’ve got? We’re fighting tooth and nail down back to stay in this game.’
“I watched Miller push himself, I watched Rowell go to the absolute extremes – and then I see that and I think: ‘Take a stand Gold Coast, shift the course of your culture and not just drop guys because it’s a name, drop them because of the effort they’re providing. That’s unacceptable. That is not AFL standard and particularly at a club that’s fighting for relevance.”
King stated Lukosius, who was taken by the Suns with Pick 2 within the 2018 draft, wouldn’t have even needed to chase Martin if he’d merely body-checked the Bomber.
“You can save yourself a 100m sprint by putting your body in the way and body-checking. It’s not that hard,” King stated.
“Watch what the Sydney Swans do, they do it every play. If you miss them, you’re on your bike, it’s 100m because you told your teammate ‘I’ll get this job done for you’.
“So as soon as you wave that white flag and say ‘too hard for me’, you burn the two youngsters down behind you and you cough up a goal when they were in that game up to their ears. Because of a couple of sloppy efforts and a couple of guys that said ‘too hard for me’, it’s over and all of a sudden the club comes under pressure.
“You’ve got to get that out of your footy club. I don’t know how you do it – whether you drop them, whether you delist them, whether you trade them – but something’s got to shift.”
Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna stated the distinction between Rowell and Lukosius’ efforts was arguably why the Suns are “just an average football team”.
“It’s hard because if that was any other player that had less talent, they would be dropped. Because he’s talented, he probably gets more opportunities. But at some point, you can’t be seduced by talent. You’ve got to make a stand,” Montagna informed First Crack.
“There is a big stark difference when you watch Gold Coast between the guys that try their absolute backsides off and some others that don’t quite.”
Originally revealed as ‘Is Jack the sickness or the cure?’: Star’s ‘disrespectful’ play referred to as out as Suns urged to make a stand
Source: www.news.com.au
