Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick calls for Victorian clubs to be ‘named and shamed’ over travel complaint

Three-time premiership coach Damien Hardwick has backed Walyalup (Fremantle) boss Justin Longmuir and even called for Victorian clubs who dismissed the travel burden on interstate teams to be “named and shamed”. After Longmuir this week accused the AFL of neglecting a heartland in Western Australia, the Gold Coast coach blasted the “laughable” claims the 12 business class seats afforded to clubs outside of Victoria make up for the massive amount of travel they are forced to undertake. Ahead of his side’s trip to Melbourne to face Carlton — after spending two weeks playing home games in Darwin — Hardwick, a legendary former Richmond coach, said he is already feeling the effects of the travel load. “Those 12 business class seats make an enormous difference … seriously, that comment is laughable,” he said. “I’ve played in Victoria, I’ve played interstate and I’ve coached now up here. We’re up against it. There’s no question about that. “For clubs in Victoria to say 12 business class flight seats help out the teams in Perth is a laughable statement. They should be named and shamed to be perfectly honest because I find it downright disrespectful.” Geelong is believed to be one of the clubs that used a review into the league’s competitive balance to complain about the WA teams’ business class seats, but Hardwick wants more clubs to be called out. He pointed to a round two trip to Ballarat to face the Western Bulldogs to highlight areas where the travel burden could be eased. “We travel every second week so sometimes we’re on a bus to Ballarat for an hour after our flight,” he said. “It is a challenge for the interstate sides. Every advantage we try to get, we are fighting hand over fist with the AFL to gain one. It’s incredibly tough. I’m 10 games in (to coaching Gold Coast) and I’m finding it challenging. “These sort of things that Melbourne clubs take for granted … we don’t get that advantage. “All the (talk around the Suns) Academy stuff … well you know what, we do need some advantages because we haven’t had an advantage for a long time at this footy club.” Longmuir doubled down on his push on Tuesday night and pointed to Friday night’s blockbuster with Collingwood off a six-day break and a flight home from Melbourne as an example of imbalance. “A lot (can be done), he told 7NEWS. “We accept that living in the west, we have to travel a lot, but the northern states get access to the NGAs, SA get access to an extra home game through Gather Round. “So all I’m asking for, and all Simmo (Adam Simpson) is asking for is fairness. “I think the weekend is a great example, six-day break and we played a Saturday night game away, which forces us to stay an extra day-and-a-half and get back Sunday. “I think West Coast had a six-day break off Gold Coast a couple of weeks ago. So just little things like that can aid the travel burden.”