Will Faulkner - Fox Footy (15.06.2026)

**Mark Duffield** (0:00)
So good, so good, so good.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:03)
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**Mark Duffield** (0:27)
Hi, Diva. It's Rachel.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:29)
And Jordan.

**Mark Duffield** (0:29)
Yeah, hi.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:30)
Quick question. Why are you not spending your Venmo balance?

**Mark Duffield** (0:32)
Yeah, we're concerned.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:33)
You can like buy stuff with it. You love buying stuff.

**Mark Duffield** (0:36)
And earn cash back on eligible purchases.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:39)
You love purchasing eligible things.

**Mark Duffield** (0:41)
So the money your friend sent you yesterday, that's today's ramen or ride share or eye patches.

**Will Faulkner** (0:46)
The skincare kind, not the pyro kind.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:48)
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**Will Faulkner** (0:53)
Max $100 cash back per month.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:54)
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**Mark Duffield** (0:57)
And Will Faulkner, Will Talk AFL. He's finally getting a run on our show. We've quite much will a couple of times.

**SPEAKER_2** (1:04)
See you there, cause he's a good old brother.

**Mark Duffield** (1:08)
We do give him a run very regularly on the show now. Despite the misgivings of one Tim Gossage, he joins us on the show now. Will, welcome.

**Will Faulkner** (1:17)
Thank you for having me, Duff, to put it as always. Appreciate the intro.

**Mark Duffield** (1:22)
It always is very off putting for me, that intro.
I don't know whether we're pumping you up or putting you down, but we're always very happy to have you on anyway. Hey, there's a bit going on in the AFL, despite the fact we're in one of 11 to 70 split rounds over the next few weeks. What's going on at Gold Coast? And more to the point, what's going wrong with Gold Coast?

**Will Faulkner** (1:47)
Just a tough one. I was down there at GMHBO Stadium on Friday night. They shot out of the block, they kicked through the first four goals. You thought, oh, this could be the win that gets them back on the horse against a team in that contention sector. And then they sort of just plummeted. John kicked seven goals straight. And now they're, I think, in a rush.
You don't want to use that word too lightly, but they're now sitting ninth, and they have one of the hardest fixtures coming home in the second half of the season. They haven't had a win for four weeks, three losses in a buy. That last win came against Port in Darwin, which feels like an eternity ago. They've got so many contract issues, not necessarily off-field issues, but a lot to deal with with contracts and key players that are going to be staples for them in the next decade if they do want to be a long-term contender. So there's a lot to deal with there. Hardwick has been adamant the last few weeks. They are a middling club, and his frustration is slowly building each week in his post-match press conferences. I think you can tell that he feels like the group isn't getting the most out of themselves. Their midfield is, for the most part, Noah Anderson, Matt Rauw, Christian Petrarcho, Tuk Milo. They've got all the tools, but they're just not getting it done. And they're getting beaten in contests and in parts of the ground that they just shouldn't be. They have a really strong spine as well. And their injury list is looking pretty good. They're not missing too many personnel. They're in their best 23 So there's not really a lot of excuses. And I think the clock starting to tick on them this season because, as I said, they're sitting in night and there's teams chasing them. St. Silder and GWF are right behind them within four points. So there's a lot going on there. And it's hard to see where this turns for them because I've had opportunities and I haven't quite taken them, Duff.

**Mark Duffield** (3:31)
So I was very much a fence sitter on Gold Coast earlier in the season because I felt the talent was clearly there. But I also think there is such a thing as seasoning. I wonder whether that's why we sometimes call them seasons because you do need a bit of seasoning as a young list. And I've seen Freemantle go through it over the last two or three seasons.