The Hawks extended their winning run in Launceston to 11 matches on Saturday, with Jack Gunston booting five goals in the 16.16 (112) to 9.9 (63) result.
They opened up a 46-point lead in the second quarter and finished strongly, overcoming a mid-game Suns fightback that cut their lead to nine points in the third term.
The contentious standing rule reared its head late in the third quarter when the game was in the balance.
Gold Coast conceded a 50m penalty after there was confusion between Jarrod Witts and Jamara Ugle-Hagan about who was being called by the umpire to move off the mark.
Hawthorn's Tom Barrass was given a saloon passage to a goal, which gave his side a 75-60 lead.
Gunston then slotted one from the boundary line shortly afterwards to give the Hawks an 81-60 lead heading into the final quarter.
"The third quarter we got the game back on our terms and then gave up ... the 50m penalty, which was baffling," Hardwick said.
"From what I gather the umpire called stand, so Jamara and Jarrod are standing and then Jarrod decides to leave because he says 'move out' and then all of a sudden it's a 50."
The premiership-winning mentor said players were struggling to work out the rule, and that he sought clarification from umpires after a penalty against Richmond's Ben Miller on Friday night.
"We went through three examples that the AFL sent to us - that should be 50s," Hardwick said.
"There was one clear one, that we thought 'yep, that's what the rule was brought in for'.
"It's just causing confusion. Everyone has got a different interpretation.
"Can we just simplify it? I don't know what it looks like, but someone needs to take charge."
The Suns failed to kick a goal in the final term and have conceded more than 100 points in each of their past four games after a promising start to the season.
Jai Newcombe was heavily involved for Hawthorn with 30 disposals, six tackles and 12 clearances, while Gold Coast's Noah Anderson was top of the possession tree with 31.
The Hawks dominated possession and territory in the opening quarter, but perhaps didn't fully capitalise with a 28-14 lead at the first break.
In his first AFL game in 596 days, former Bulldog Ugle-Hagan booted his first goal as a Sun in the 20th minute after nabbing a one-handed mark.
The Hawks sank the boot in with a run of five goals in the second quarter to open up a 60-14 advantage.
But the Suns lifted with four of their own in a row, including two to Ben Long, who kicked around his body from 40m out to reduce the margin to 62-39 at halftime.
The Hawks, who move to equal top of the ladder with other games to play, are 6-1 for the season, while the Gold Coast are 4-3.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell praised his team, but said they still had work to do managing momentum swings.
"The game was well and truly slipping away from us. For the players to respond and pull away … shows enormous maturity in the group," he said.
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