“I’ll be careful with my words”: Suns skipper on practice match review

The pause seemed to last forever when Zero Hanger asked Gold Coast captain Noah Anderson to give an insight into coach Damien Hardwick's take on last week's loss to St Kilda.

What were Dimma's thoughts? "Ah, I'll be careful with my words," Anderson told Zero Hanger.

You get the feeling Hardwick didn't hold back. Sure, it was only a practice game, but a 71-point shellacking to a team that finished outside the top eight last year is a wakeup call.

"There's some things we can definitely take from it. We understand it's a practice match, and we don't have to be at our absolute best at this time of year, but there's definitely some things to take out of it we wouldn't want to see going forward," Anderson said.

"You can't win the premiership this time of year, but you can certainly lose it.

"As a player, I am not fazed by the result, but there's some stuff we can take from it."

Despite the horror February night, Anderson is adamant the Suns are showing signs they can close the gap on premiership contenders from last season.

"We got some really good feedback from playing Brisbane last year in the final as to where our gap was and I feel like we are chasing them a little bit. Hopefully, we continue to bridge that gap," Anderson said.

"I'm confident we've got the group and the right attitude to take the next steps."

Anderson defended the performance of former Bulldog Jamarra Ugle-Hagan in the Saints' hitout.

"The way we played didn't give him much of a chance, actually, to show his strengths," Anderson said.

"He's not the finished product yet.''