Damien Hardwick says ill-disciplined Gold Coast Suns star Mac Andrew needs to 'pull his head in'

"He's got to pull his head in."

That was the message from Damien Hardwick after fiery-tempered Gold Coast Suns star Mac Andrew had a meltdown that cost his team a goal during a 59-point win over the West Coast Eagles on Sunday.

West Coast's Milan Murdock made a statement tackle early in his AFL debut when he caught Andrew holding the ball inside the Eagles' forward 50 during the first quarter.

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The 25-year-old debutant rubbed salt in the wound, too, giving Andrew a shove when the umpire pinged him for holding the ball.

Andrew snapped, grabbing Murdock by the scruff of the neck and hurling him to ground, sparkling a melee and giving away a 50-metre penalty.

Subsequently, instead of having to take his free kick from the right-hand boundary line, Murdock did so from the top of the goal square, and he put the ball through the sticks for West Coast's first major of the game.

In an indication of just how highly Gold Coast bosses rate Andrew, the 22-year-old is on a nine-year contract reportedly worth $12 million — but his ill discipline has cost the Suns on a number of occasions early in his AFL career.

Hardwick made his frustration clear when asked about the latest incident during his post-match press conference.

"I was disappointed with that tonight," the Suns coach said.

"He's better than that. I know he's better than that. That frustrated me. He knew he overstepped the mark tonight.

"Generally, there's times where I can handle it, but he overstepped the mark tonight. He knows that.

"I'm there to support him."

Smirking, Hardwick added: "You look at my [playing] tape; it was just as bad as his. Worse!"

He backed Andrew to "eventually grow out of it" and likened him to West Coast firebrand Harley Reid.

"The guy on the other side of the ball park, Harley, is very similar and has been through similar. He's working his way through it, as well," he said.

"They're volatile characters and that's what makes them great.

"But at times, like me, he's got to pull his head in.

"Love the kid, love the way he plays. He was very good [against West Coast], and then he had some moments tonight that were not so good."

It was put to Hardwick that, knowing Andrew has a short fuse, teams probably try to get under his skin.

"That's part of it, isn't it?" Hardwick replied.

"That's part of growing.

"He's got to understand that he's put himself in a situation.

"It's my job and the other coaches' job to help him work through that."