Box Hill succumbed to a third defeat of the season on the weekend, going down to the Gold Coast Suns in Queensland.

After a very even contest for the first half, the Suns blew the Hawks away with a 10 goal third term to turn a two point half time margin into a 64-point win.

Box Hill Coach Zane Littlejohn said the loss was a "challenging day".

"It was obviously not a great day for our VFL side, it was probably the real first blemish we've had all year in regards to inconsistency in our performance," he said. 

"It wasn't a great all-round team performance unfortunately, we had a lot of players down on the day and as you know in a quality competition like the VFL, if you're down even by one per cent, letter known 10-15 per cent like we were, it's going to be very hard for you to compete.

"It was a challenging day for our footy club, but one thing we've learnt about this group this year is their resilience and ability to bounce back when they've been challenged, so hopefully we see a really good response in the coming weeks."

The coach has given his review of each AFL-listed Hawk who played in the match below.

Josh Ward (38 disposals, 5 clearances, 4 marks, 1 goal)

"Josh was our best player. He worked hard all day, his work rate was exceptional, he covered the ground well and his ability to get contest to contest was really pleasing. He used the ball reasonably well at times, probably overused where he could've just taken territory and drove his legs, especially early in the game. I think later in the game he adjusted well to that and was able to find time and space and use the ball well. He had a really nice balanced game for an inside mid."

Cooper Stephens (24 disposals, 6 clearances, 1 goal)

"Coop had a strong start to the game, he was nice and tough inside and was really solid in that area. We'll continue to work with Coop with his contest-to-contest running and getting out, challenging the opposition both ways. The thing we love about Coop is how tough he is inside - he had another solid day where he was able to extract six clearances and hit the scoreboard himself. Unfortunately, he just got outworked in the second half, and wasn't tough enough for long enough. Overall a solid performance for Coop, without being outstanding."

Henry Hustwaite (22 disposals, 7 clearances)

"Henry is learning the game and it was a great experience for him playing against AFL-listed players in the midfield. What we know with Henry is his ability to be really clean and composed around the contest at clearance, his hands are elite. He's got to find that balance now between when he needs to use his hands or drive his legs and use his kick, he's a beautiful kick as well. At times, he almost wants to use his hands too quick rather than drive his legs and get out into open space. Henry is learning the ground running, the second half he got left behind a little bit for his contest-to-contest running but that's a good lesson for the young man. Henry works very hard at his game, he'll look at his tape and the areas he can improve that."

Chad Wingard (18 disposals)

"Chad played forward all day, we brought him up around the footy a little bit, when he was able to do that he had a great influence on the game. When he does that role he is able to connect forward again and really slip between the cracks in that space and was able to be dangerous when he got forward. He finished with 18 touches, but more importantly he had the eight score involvements, but wasn't able to hit the scoreboard himself. We want out forwards to really own certain areas of the ground, he wasn't quite able to do that consistently, we'll work with Chad on that and he knows he needs to be better in that space as well especially to get back and play AFL footy, you've got to be consistent. But I thought his effort was pretty good for the majority of the day."

Ned Long (18 disposals, 7 tackles, 4 marks)

"Ned like all of our midfielders started the game really well, he worked hard in the contest. He got out and found space and transition really well, but in the second half it was all one way and we weren't able to get going the other way defensively. Gold Coast started to take a lot of territory and our mids weren't turning up, and Ned was one of them. We just need to work with Longy on the space and make sure that he can become more consistent, that's probably the most disappointing area for the whole group."

Jai Serong (17 disposals, 5 marks)

"Jai played in defence again and did a pretty solid job. His execution by foot a couple of times coming out of defence probably hurt him, just overusing the ball and turning it over. But he had to compete against big Sam Day at times, one on on and his effort was something I was really pleased with. He has played back before, but he's predominately been a forward, but he's really adjusted well in going back to play in defence and have a real good crack at it. He competed really well, gave good effort and found a bit of the footy - he had six rebound 50s - but unfortunately coming out of defence he just gave it back too much and that probably cost him from having a really good performance.

Finn Maginness (17 disposals, 5 clearances, 4 marks)

"Finn started in defence, we had him a role, and he did a really good job. Unfortunately we had to move him in the second half after our contest-to-contest work wasn't happening so we put him on ball to help with a bit of that, in particularly the defensive transition running from our mids and he was able to do that. He came off at three quarter time as a hold off for the AFL side. But his effort was really good, I thought he did a really good job on Brodie McLaughlin who ended up kicking five - but looking back at the tape, a lot of them was when Finn was moved off him, he only kicked one on Finn. So a really solid effort from Finn. We know we can trust and rely on Finn and he's very close to putting his hand back up to play some AFL footy again in the future."

Harry Morrison (16 disposals, 5 marks, 5 tackles)

"It was a quieter day for Harry, he spent more time on the wing. Credit to Gold Coast, the way we weren't able to move the ball stifled our wingers a bit. We just weren't able to transition the ball and get our wingers involved in the game. Harry's attitude and leadership amongst our group was still really positive in what would have been a frustrating day for him. We moved him on ball for a little bit to help him get into the game and he helped with a bit of contest-to-contest running. It was a tough day when you're stuck out on the wing with the ball not coming your way. Pleasing thing with Harry was that he was able to have five tackles. He probably didn't use the ball as well as he would've liked, only going at 69 per cent. He'll work hard though, we know we're a better footy club when Harry is playing his best footy."

Joshua Bennetts (14 disposals, 6 marks, 1 goal)

"Josh was very reliable, he was probably our only genuine small forward for the day. You know what you're going to get from him. He set himself some targets over the bye week on some areas that he wanted to be around and where he wanted to contribute. He's come pretty close with those areas, he's got to continue to work on his tackling and providing pressure. His hit the scoreboard himself and had seven score involvements, so it was a solid game, reliable but not necessarily remarkable."

Bailey Macdonald (13 disposals, 4 marks) 

"It was Bailey's first game back with us for a while. He was our real spark early in helping to provide a fair bit of drive in our offence. One thing with 'B Mac' we know is that when he's got space in front of him, he likes to take that. That really helped drive our offence, especially in the first half. We used an example of Bailey at half time about he gets the ball and looks to go forward with it and takes territory. He faded out as the game went on, but his first half was really exciting."

Max Ramsden (12 disposals, 4 marks, 4 tackles, 13 hit-outs)

"Max got beaten in the ruck on the day, there is no sugar coating it. Ned Moyle has played some good games for the Suns, he's a good young ruck. But it's a great learning for Rama. He was the number one man in there for us and he just got beaten on the day. He just wasn't able to influence in the contest, he wasn't tough enough for long enough. Rama will get back to work this week and hopefully come back and put in a better performance next week."

Brandon Ryan (12 disposals, 4 marks) 

"It was Brandon's first game for the footy club, and he was solid. He had a tough day with how much the ball came his way but if you look at his stats, he could've had a really great day if he used the ball well. There's some good evidence that he could be a real player, he's just got to work on his contest, especially around his ruck. When you're that height and you're coming up against good AFL defenders, they're not going to let you just play it your own way. So he needs to find how he can fight through that and make an impact on the game."

Denver Grainger-Barras (10 disposal, 5 marks, 1 goal)

"Denver had a quieter day. He got thrown around after we lost Hugh Beasley early in the third, so Denver was our only key back. We had to flick Denver back to Sam Day and unfortunately he got hold of him a little bit in the contest. Denver still had some really nice moments, but he's got to find that consistency. He's working hard, and Adrian Hickmott is doing a power of work with him behind the scenes with his contest work. He played the majority of the day on Chol and did a pretty good job on him early days, before he got off the leash when he went into the ruck."

Fergus Greene (3 goals, 5 marks)

"Ferg had some moments on the wing, and spent some time forward. He kicked a couple late which was a nice reward for him to finish the day on a strong note, we know Ferg's work rate was really good. He probably just got caught deep too much too often. We know he can get up and around, move and find space that way. We just have to continue to work on what the best balance is for him - he's a very tough match-up he can play big, play small - but when you're playing against quality teams and the balls not coming in exactly as you need it to, he needs to be able to put himself in the best position to have an influence on the game. He was able to do that late, which was really pleasing."

Josh Morris (9 disposals)

"It was a quiet day for Josh, he didn't have a huge influence. He played in defence again but didn't have any real impact on the game. his effort was great, but unfortunately it wasn't his day. He'll look now to bounce back and continue to be consistent."

Fionn O’Hara (2 disposals)

"Like Josh, for Fionn it wasn't his day. He wasn't able to impact in the contest, the ball he got he wasn't able to use as he would've liked. But thats all a learning curve, it's what our Box Hill program is about. Yes we want to win, and yes we want our players to perform, but we also want them to develop and part of their education is winning and losing. So this will be used as an opportunity to review."