TRUE BLUEY AFL: with Gold Coast SUNS coach Guy McKenna, courtesy of the Gold Coast Bulletin

THERE has been a lot spoken about it but I can certainly understand Fremantle coach Mark Harvey's decision to rest almost half his side against Hawthorn on Saturday.

I admit that we at the Gold Coast SUNS did the same thing last year when we had a Melbourne TAC Cup match followed by a state championship game against Tasmania in Launceston and finally another state match against Vic Metro in Melbourne.

Those three matches were to be played in a very short space of time and I wanted to have an almighty crack against the Vic Metro under-18 team, which was going to be the best opposition we would face all season.

It was our grand final so to speak, so we wanted to be fresh and give ourselves the best chance, which meant not playing a heap of players against the Tassie boys and we were soundly beaten accordingly.

I was certainly challenged about the team I took to Tasmania and I said it was not going to be the same side against Vic Metro.

We ended up losing by a goal to Vic Metro in the final 90 seconds.

Would I do it again? I think I would.

So, I can understand what Harvey did at the weekend but there is always the great unknown factor.

Are all those players he left out going to come back and magically be fresh and switched on?

How much damage is done by a loss like that? That is all the great unknown that will remain a mystery until they take the field again.

There will be no questions asked if it all comes off with positive results through to the finals. If it goes the other way, you are made to look like a goose. That is the coaching conundrum of course.

For the SUNS our VFL season is over.

Speaking to some of the boys yesterday they told me that they felt like they blinked and the season was over.

It does go quick because of the off-field stuff at the club such as the name, the jumper and the song.

I predict the next 12 months will be exactly the same, so bring it on.