Suns’ spring cleanout

THE major cleanout at the Suns is under way with today’s clash with Geelong to be the last for a host of senior Gold Coast staff members.

There are also set to be a mass player turnover with up to 12 delistings and retirements expected to be announced by the club in the coming weeks.

Foundation football department members Russell Butler and Andy Lovell, veteran high performance manager Justin Cordy and long serving assistant coach Matthew Primus have all been shown the door.

The revamp will see physio Alex Rigby elevated to highperformance manager and the welfare program rebranded the personal excellence department.

It will be headed by Brisbane Lions triple premiership player and foundation Suns staff member Shaun Hart who returned to the club from Port Adelaide in the last off-season.

The Suns see this as a key weapon in their battle with player retention and will ask the AFL for extra funding to bolster the department.

Suns football manager Jon Haines said the club hoped to spend more on welfare than any other club in the competition from next year.

Rigby, the son of club doctor Barry Rigby and in charge of injury rehab at the Suns, beat an international field that included Adam Beard, who has overseen strength and conditioning for NFL side Cleveland Browns and British and Irish Lions rugby union squad, to win a major promotion.

“We were pleased with the strong level of interest in this position and also the quality of the candidates,” Haines said.

“And we were thrilled Alex presented so well and won the position.’’

Suns coach Stuart Dew will bring two more of his own people into the coaching panel next year.

Former Lion Josh Drummond has been approached to fill one position.

There has now been an almost total clean-out at the club. In the past two years, the positions of CEO, senior coach, captain, football manager, list manager, head of welfare and high performance have changed hands.

The Suns are also expected to be busy during the AFL trade period. They have been linked to Tiger Anthony Miles, Swans pair Nic Newman and Jake Lloyd, Bulldogs Mitch Wallis, Collingwood’s Adam Oxley and the Cats’ George Horlin-Smith.

Gold Coast are likely to get priority access to two players from state leagues as part of an AFL bailout package.

They are set to select South Fremantle’s Marlion Pickett and Werribee VFL standout Sam Collins.