GOLD Coast coach Damien Hardwick has conceded his side's finals hopes are all but gone following a seventh straight loss.

"End of the day, we've got six weeks, this year's effectively gone, what we've got to do is forge our way forward about what we want ourselves to look like for next year, from my point of view," Hardwick said following the 79-point loss to Adelaide on Saturday.

"The way we're playing, we don't deserve to make it."

They were "beaten up" around the midfield in the face of Adelaide's clearance strength and immense pressure, a far cry from the Gold Coast onball brigade that led the side to a maiden finals series last year.

"(We) just got belted up around the ball, thought that pressure – credit to Adelaide – that pressure and that contested ball stuff is as good as we've played against this year. To be perfectly honest, we just couldn't handle (it), then got belted at clearance," Hardwick said.

"All in all, contest-wise, we just got absolutely blown off the park. That's the most disappointing thing, you can't get any phase of your game up and going if you get that badly beaten in contests."

Hardwick became the second coach of the year to have an interaction with opposition fans on the walk to the ground at three-quarter time, reinvigorating questions around the layout of Adelaide Oval for coaches.

"Walking through here, and I understand people are going to say stuff, and I've got to be better, but end of the day, those sorts of people are the guys that live in their mum's basements and type on bloody social media forums and all that sort of stuff," Hardwick said.

"I've got to be better, like I said, but we've got to do something about it. It's a dangerous position to put us in, first and foremost, security is OK, but we don't need people being peanuts about it. Get out of the basement, mate."

Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks labelled the incidents "disappointing", calling for the home fans to minimise such interactions.

Meanwhile, Gold Coast's Will Graham is "probably done for the year" according to Hardwick, after a shoulder dislocation.