Opinion
After bringing up their second win of the year beating North Melbourne comfortably by 43 points it is now the time for the Gold Coast Suns Football Club to stand up.
Since their inaugural year in 2011 to the present in 2023, there have been too many excuses and not enough performing on the field.
In Stuart Dew’s sixth year as coach with a coaching record of (31-79-1) (W-L-D) the coaching hot seat is set to intensify with big games against Richmond, Melbourne, West Coast and Brisbane to come in the next four.
Last year, Stuart Dew’s contract was extended for another two seasons at the helm, which surprised many considering their patchy season of 10 wins and 12 losses in 2022.
Brett Ratten’s brutal axing at the end of last year has shown the significance of a contract as another poor end of the year for the Suns could mean trouble for Dew.
The poor ending of seasons has been a trend for Stuart Dew’s men with Gold Coast having a record of eight wins and 39 losses in the last eight games of a season from 2017-2022 with a winning percentage of just 20.5 percent in that time frame.
The former Gold Coast Suns Chairman Tony Cochrane said in his farewell statement before the season commenced “We have great stability, a strong administration and an outstanding playing list and football department, whom I firmly believe are on the road to finals in 2023.”
This statement could not be further from where they sit currently with just two wins and four losses to date. The Suns are placed 14th on the ladder with a mild percentage of 85.5 percent emphasising their lack of competitiveness in games.
The disappointing news of co-captain Touk Miller’s meniscus tear is going to test the Suns plight with Miller set to be sidelined for at least a month. The Suns depth of A-grade talent is going to be an intriguing watch to see if their young leaders are capable to step up in the absence of one of their big stars.
Touk Miller of the Suns runs the ball (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Speaking on Fox Footy’s On The Couch on June 21st, 2021 Tony Cochrane proudly said “I don’t have the fear of the go-home factor this time of round,” for the club.
It is hard to believe the words of administrators such as Tony Cochrane that the club is making improvements with the continued departures of players such as the talented Izak Rankine at the end of last year.
These fears have not been erased with other stars linked to departures such as the explosive forward Ben King who is being lured back to Victoria at this very instance.
Although the frustration of key players leaving abruptly has not helped, the list management over the years at this club has to be questioned.
List decisions include overpaying average players to come to the club as a form of desperation such as the recruitment of Rory Atkins on a five-year deal from Adelaide and Brandon Ells who has just come back from a soft tissue injury.
Rory Atkins has just played the 17 games since moving whilst Brandon Ellis has been fine without being outstanding providing a much-needed leadership role for the young side.
Another poor decision was to sensationally trade their pick two of the 2017 AFL draft to Fremantle in exchange for Lachie Weller.
Going all the way back to 2017 could be deemed harsh, however, this establishes the Gold Coast Suns desperation in acquiring players to become the destination club that they all desire. Still to this day, the desperation has not been solved leaving them in a never-ending cycle.
The trade bell went into meltdown when the news first broke into the salary dump that featured Jack Bowes and his whopping $1.6 million contract heading to the cattery in exchange for just a future third-round pick. The mind-blowing part was Geelong acquired Gold Coast’s pick seven in the draft as well for the price of nothing.
These decisions in overpaying players such as Jack Bowes to help them stay at the club highlight the lack of accountability that the club has made and the wreckage there still trying to rebuild.
In the Suns 13th season in the AFL, they are still continuing to figure out their identity as a club that stands for something more than mediocrity.
We will have to see on what the Gold Coast Suns deliver in 2023 as the brutality of the football industry hits the Suns hard.
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