Stuart Dew sacked as Gold Coast Suns coach

The Gold Coast Suns have parted ways with senior coach Stuart Dew following another disappointing loss on Saturday night against Port Adelaide.

The news comes less than 24 hours after club chairman Tony Cochrane returned from holidays, with the news to be officially confirmed at some time on Tuesday.

Dew had been under mounting pressure from the wider AFL community following a string of heavy defeats.

The Suns currently sit 13th on the AFL ladder, a game and a half outside of the top eight with seven weeks to go in the 2023 AFL season.

The former Port Adelaide and Hawthorn premiership player has been at the helm of the Suns since the end of 2017 after they parted ways with Rodney Eade.

Gold Coast’s best finish under Dew was in 2022, when they finished 12th on the AFL ladder with a record of 10 wins and 12 losses.

Having signed a two-year contract extension last year, the Suns felt like they had found the man to lead them to their maiden finals series in 2023.

Gold Coast are 36-84-1 under Dew overall.

Former Geelong premiership player Steven King is set to take over as interim coach of the Suns for the remainder of the 2023 season.

Dew’s sacking leaves the door ajar for his former premiership teammate Damien Hardwick to return to the coaching ranks after stepping away from the Richmond job in May.

Hardwick revealed on a podcast last month that he was already missing coaching, and he is expected to be a long odds-on favourite to replace Dew when AFL bookmakers open betting markets for the next Gold Coast Suns coach.

The Suns are set to face St Kilda at Heritage Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon in what shapes as a season-defining clash for both sides.

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