HOW SUNS ARE SHAPING UP
‘Awesome’ coach’s revolution faces tough do-or-die deadline
Ready or not, here they come.
This appears to be the perception of Gold Coast heading into 2024 with Damien Hardwick and a stack of talented players at his disposal.
Expectations are being set high right from the top, with chairman Bob East telling 7News the club expects a premiership by the close of 2026.
It is a bold move but one no doubt driven by the optimism that is permeating the club since the highly regarded Hardwick came on board late last year.
The three-time premiership coach made an instant impact, declaring 80 per cent of the side’s maiden premiership list was already at the club, while some of that remaining 20 per cent was added soon after with a suite of academy prospects joining via the draft.
Importantly, no group seems as excited for the year ahead as the players themselves.
“He’s awesome,” Wil Powell told SENQ Breakfast of Hardwick. “It’s so good with a new coach and he’s got the runs on the board. Everyone is so eager to learn from him
“Every time he stands in front of us and speaks it’s like, ‘wow, this bloke knows what he’s talking about’.
“The game plan he’s implemented is so exciting. It’s such an exciting brand of footy. We’ve been training really well and I think he’s starting to get really happy with the way we’re playing.
“It should be a very fun and exciting year for a finals berth.”
Already stacked with one of the most well-rounded lists in the competition, Christmas came early for the Suns as Hardwick added Jed Walter (pick No.3), Ethan Read (No.9), Jake Rogers (No.14) and Will Graham (No.26) to his present collection.
Onlookers – and, indeed, those inside the club – have noticed the change of Hardwick-led training sessions compared with those held by his predecessors, with the hope that it signals a change in outcomes on the field.
“I think you’re just seeing now with the new interim coach Steven King their elevated handball work and their pressure, one feeding into the other,” Fox Footy analyst David King said in the lead up to Hardwick’s appointment on The First Crack.
“It was evident ... how creative they now are and how prepared they are to just put their body on the line, paddle the ball on. They play a lot like what we would see of a Richmond in their early infancy; just get the ball, let’s run in numbers, let’s handball if there’s a target.
“It’s clunky because they’ve only done it for a few weeks at training, so it’s not going to work.
“I think when Damien Hardwick takes over this list they will win a flag in his first four years.”
Still, if footy has taught fans anything, it is that there is no silver bullet for success.
The proof will be in the pudding once the 2024 season gets under way, but there is certainly the sense that everything is perfectly poised for the Suns to break through the clouds at last.
STRENGTH The middle
The Suns ranked seventh in the competition in contested possession differential and fourth in clearance differential. It was a markedly higher rank than their ladder position and shows the depth and quality of a midfield brigade usually led by Touk Miller but more than capably handled by Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell in 2023 during Miller’s injury-enforced absence between rounds seven and 16. Both should improve in 2024 and, along with a fit and firing Miller, they should be competing with some of the game’s best engine rooms.
WEAKNESS The second-half of seasons
However well the Suns start this year, the real test of improvement will come in the second half of the season, where the club has struggled almost always in recent history. Yet again in 2023 a strong start was undone by a poor second half. Also of note is a kicking rating of 17th in the competition last year, along with a rank of 16th in points from turnover. Given Richmond’s success as a turnover side under Damien Hardwick, one would think that ranking will see a drastic shift in 2024.
WHERE ARE THEY ON THE PREMIERSHIP CLOCK? 8pm:
The Suns are poised to strike now and over the next couple of years, with a blend of youth and experience that looks tailor-made for success. The big question mark has always been whether the Suns can actually do it given they’ve had decent lists and failed in the past. Damien Hardwick appears to have added an air of stability and self-assurance to the club, however, with their Academy pickups also set to dominate over the coming decade. In the here and now, however, they have what they need to start making genuine pushes into September and that should be the aim in 2024 and beyond.
PREDICTED LADDER RANGE
6th-10th