Mac Andrew criticised for efforts against GWS Giants, Gold Coast Suns, Jed Walter misses easy set shot for goal, reactions, First Crack, latest news

'He had four or five horrors' | 00:45

Two of Gold Coast’s brightest prospects have been sternly put on notice, with several blunders between Mac Andrew and Jed Walter said to have had a critical say in their side’s seven-point loss to GWS on Sunday.

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With such promise in the duo, comes a significant rise in expectation in crunch time matches, as both players found out at ENGIE Stadium.

Andrew, 21, is currently signed on one of the competition’s longest contracts until the end of 2030 — with a clause that if triggered, would tie him to the Suns until the end of 2034.

It means his deal could be worth as much as $12 million over a nine-year period, and would see him stand alone with only Melbourne superstar Kysaiah Pickett right now with a contract so long.

Two-time North Melbourne premiership player David King highlighted several moments where the 202cm key defender would have liked to have his time over as his side squandered a 29-point lead.

“He’s 21 years of age now, he’s signed a big deal, he’s played (53) games of footy. He gets the big match-ups, he’s got to be better than this,” King told Fox Footy’s First Crack.

“Crunch moments in the game, and he started the nervousness down back — he started the slide.

“They (GWS) kicked 8.1 from 10 inside 50 entries (in the final quarter), and it’s moments like this. Like, what are you doing? You’ve got to be better than that.”

A missed spoil from the prodigy ended up in the hands of Giants recruit and substitute Jake Stringer, who kicked an unlikely goal from the right forward pocket amid the Giants’ last quarter surge.

The Egyptian-born Sudanese was eventually moved out of defence and swung forward late in hopes his athletic prowess could cause damage much closer to goal.

“I keep saying it — if you put your hand out, you’ve got to put your hand up. When the moments are there to win your one-on-ones, and be smart and calm and controlled, that’s why they’re signing you to long-term deals,” King continued.

“He had four or five horrors (and) in the end, they had to get him out of the back line. They had to get him forward, because he was just leaking too heavily.

“The pressure (is) on Mac. It’s time to get your head right, and get back in the game. Get back to the Mac that we had 12 months ago, not the Mac that we’ve got right now.”

Walter slammed for 'unacceptable' error | 01:17

Even closer to goal in the first term, it was his teammate Walter who was under fire for his horror attempt on goal on the cusp of quarter time.

After marking the ball on the very edge of the goal square, the second-year key forward veered from his normal approach to goal and instead opting to shoot from a near-stagnant start. Unsurprisingly, it gave Walter little momentum towards goal and saw his kick spray to the right of the big sticks.

It left Western Bulldogs great and sharp shooter Brad Johnson in genuine disbelief, who on live commentary at the time labelled it “the worst run up he’s ever seen”.

“I actually couldn’t believe what I was watching. It’s casual, it’s not professional at all in your approach to playing that particular role for your football club,” Johnson later told First Crack.

“Damien Hardwick (had) every right to be upset at quarter time ... I would’ve been absolutely filthy if that was a teammate of mine at quarter time. The gap in the game was there for Gold Coast; it could’ve been a gap that GWS would never have been able to come back from.

“I wouldn’t drop him for it. You’ve got to learn a lesson once, and then it depends on the next outcome ... that’s unacceptable, it shouldn’t be even in his game to start with.”

A Walter goal would have put the Suns up by 33 points with 21 seconds to play before quarter time.

The Suns have to a chance to win their way back inside the top eight with a match against Melbourne next Saturday back on their home deck at People First Stadium. The loss to GWS put them into the bottom 10 teams for the first time this season.

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