Suns deliver Dew date on the future of their AFL head coach
SUNS powerbrokers have discussed re-signing Stuart Dew early next year in the clearest sign yet he will remain head coach of Gold Coast beyond 2022.
Dew goes into next year under enormous pressure to finally bring success to a club that has had little to celebrate in its first 11 years.
Next year will Dew’s fifth at the helm of Gold Coast, he is out of contract at the end of the season and for the first time under his watch the club has been vocal about its expectation to make finals.
Despite the magnitude of events to come next year, Suns hierarchy are already confident Dew is the man who will take the club forward into 2023 and beyond.
It is unlikely an extension will come before the start of the 2022 season but many at the club are keen to remove the distraction that would come with talk about his future as the year progresses.
Discussions are already being held internally at the Suns as to when the right time would be to do a deal.
His future has already been a hot topic of discussion given Alastair Clarkson’s departure from Hawthorn this year. It is an incredible vote of confidence in Dew, who arrived in 2018 and signed a two-year contract extension in 2020.
Under his guidance, the Suns have a winning percentage of 23.49 per cent, winning 19 of his first 63 games in charge.
The list is his to own after turning it over in recent years. The squad has a core nucleus of exciting young talent including Ben King, Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Sam Flanders, Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine, Alex Davies, Elijah Hollands, Connor Budarick and Jeremy Sharp and Jack Bowes.
They have been ushered in around the likes of established senior players including captains Jarrod Witts and David Swallow, All-Australian Touk Miller, Brandon Ellis, Lachie Weller and Sam Collins, while Mabiol Chol and the impending arrival of Levi Casboult will bolster the team’s tall stocks.