In late January, Damien Hardwick found himself floating downstream at Cudgen Creek – close to the Queensland-NSW border – and in that moment knew he had made the right choice.

Save for the occasional blood curdling cries of the native Bush Stone-curlews perched on the riverbank, Hardwick was at peace with life, football and the decision he made almost 18 months earlier that completely changed both.

“I’ve become a Queenslander,” he declared on the eve of his second season in charge of the Gold Coast Suns.

It’s not a statement made lightly by the triple-premiership coach.

CHANGING COLOURS

His departure from Richmond in May 2023 sent shockwaves through the AFL world. When, three months later, he was unveiled as the next Gold Coast coach, those shockwaves became seismic.

Incredibly, there are some pockets of the Richmond fandom that still refuse to forgive him for moving on, despite presiding over the club’s most successful period in the AFL era.

Hardwick has always maintained the time was right for he and Richmond to go their separate ways.

“I think what happens is you serve a certain amount of time at a club and you know your expiration date is thereabouts. It was good for both parties,” he said.

“The exciting thing for me coming into a new role is I have to teach again. The education aspect is what I love – I love teaching players and seeing how they grasp a concept and take that into a game.

“It’s been a good change and something I’m excited by.”

Change is often necessary for growth and Hardwick has had plenty of both over the past 12 months.

He still starts each day at 5am but whereas in Melbourne that meant silent streets and private moments, on the Glitter Strip he was shocked to find himself having to wait in line for his morning coffee.

“What I’ve found here is that’s a little disruptive because everyone else is up at 5am as well, so that quiet time I got used to in Melbourne I don’t get as much up here.”

Instead his “quiet time” now comes in nature. Whether it’s a short trip across the border to Kingscliff or a hike through the Gold Coast hinterland, Hardwick tries to make every opportunity of living in one of the most scenic pockets of the country.

“It’s a great lifestyle,” he said.

“You’re out a lot more, exercising a lot more – with the warmer weather you don’t watch as much television.

“I tried surfing, it wasn’t my cup of tea. I don’t go in the water and the sharks don’t come into the pub.

“The biggest thing is I’m just outdoors more. The countryside up here is remarkable.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to travel to a lot of places in the world, but there are so many places in your backyard here that are incredible.

“I feel very fortunate I get to live up here and explore the beautiful things the country has to offer.”

The Suns’ pre-season camp in Byron Bay was Hardwick’s brainchild – a perfect excuse to connect with the stunning natural beauty of his new home while putting his players through their paces.

“I’ve always loved the show Amazing Race so generally the camps will involve a fair element of that,” he said.

“Hard work, a lot of physical activities, but also mental as well. I get great joy out of seeing players push their limits.

“What our players do is they dig in and dig in hard. But we also wanted to challenge them mentally.

“Probably the thing we didn’t cope well with last year was playing our moments at various stages, so a lot of the camp was designed around things that will challenge them through leadership, collaboration and communication.”

THE ‘LIFETIME LEARNER’

A lot has been made of Hardwick’s first season in charge at the Suns – and even more of the external pressures he and the club face in 2025.

The Suns put finals on the agenda last year and fell short. A best-ever 11-win season was little more than a hollow afterthought for a team that felt it was ready to achieve much more.

This year, those expectations are amplified but the end goal remains the same.

“It’s always finals for us,” Hardwick declared.

“If you’re not in it to make finals, then why are we here? We don’t back away from that.

“I don’t care whether people sit there and say, ‘This is a bottom-four side, a middle-four side or a top-four side’ – you have to give yourself a chance.

“If we play our best footy we are certainly capable of going a fair way.”

Despite his new surrounds and ever-growing list of hobbies, football always remains front of mind for Hardwick.

When jokingly asked whether he was a “thinking about footy at Christmas Eve dinner kind of guy”, he chuckled: “Look, I probably would say to that extent, yes”.

“I often find myself drifting and thinking about that sort of stuff. I’ll go to the computer and move a few magnets – ‘What about if this guy could do this, can he do that?’ That’s part and parcel of being a coach.

“I caught up with (new West Coast coach) Andrew McQualter over the Christmas break and he used to always laugh how he would come in and I was flicking magnets around. Now he feels like he’s doing that as well. It’s only a matter of time, when they get in that big chair they all become mad like the rest of us.”

It might sound like it from hearing him talk about weekend trips to the rivers and mountains, but moving to the Gold Coast was far from a holiday venture for Hardwick.

He is as driven and determined as ever to return to the top of the AFL mountain and deliver success to a club and community that has been crying out for Australian rules

relevancy for 15 years.

Part of that deal is becoming the face of the Gold Coast Suns and trumpeting the club’s cause at every opportunity – something he sometimes struggles with, but knows is crucial.

“It’s never been something I’ve overly loved, if that makes sense, the media and that sort of stuff. I’ve always felt ‘just let our footy do the talking’ but obviously up here it’s different, we have to grow the game,” Hardwick said.

The Suns coach enjoys not being recognised everywhere he goes but that relative anonymity is a double-edged sword because, if he and the club achieve what they hope to, that will eventually change.

“You can get some anonymity up here, which can be good, but it’s also bad because we want to win football games and become known,” Hardwick said.

“We want to get a lot of supporters to our games and to do that we have to hold up our end of the bargain and win some more games of footy. If we do that, a lot more people will become Suns supporters and jump into the stadium to watch games.”

Hardwick said he was forever evolving and learning new things as a coach. Moving north was an opportunity to move outside of his comfort zone and expedite that process.

“You can’t ask your players to consistently improve and learn and get better if we don’t challenge ourselves as coaches,” he said.

“I look at my off-season every year and what can I learn? Whether it’s through reading, podcasts, talking to people … if you can bring one or two things back to your footy club that can make you better, the club is better for it.

“You never fully check out, if that makes sense.

“On a Saturday night when people go out for dinner and drinks – which I do from time to time – I’ll often say, ‘All right, let’s watch the Essendon game’.

“I’m probably a lifetime learner. I really enjoy figuring out something I can implement or bring to our program. It invigorates me as well because you have to set an example for your staff. If you’re idle and you’re not challenging yourself to get better, then your staff won’t follow that example.”

MOUNTING EXPECTATIONS

On the day he was unveiled as Gold Coast coach, Hardwick famously declared “80 per cent” of the club’s future premiership side was on the list.

For better or worse, that statement will follow him right up to the moment he stands on the dais on that last Saturday in September with the premiership cup held aloft.

But the Suns coach stands by his words.

“I’m very lucky to have the list I have,” Hardwick said.

“There will be some quality players this year that miss out.

“You look at some of the players that last year started to forge their way into the side – Bodhi Uwland, Sam Clohesy, Alex Davies, Connor Budarick – we’re really excited about what that next stage of player can bring to our footy club.

“I think our list is in really good shape. Craig (Cameron) and Kall Burns have done an incredible job of giving us a list I believe is capable of doing great things.”

But there is one bold declaration Hardwick said he regretted.

Last December, Bailey Humphrey revealed he let the comparisons to Dustin Martin get to his head and felt the weight of expectation get to him during an up and down second season at the Suns.

“One of the things I love is aspirational leadership – I love seeing people a certain way and asking them to rise to the goals of what we think they can be,” Hardwick said.

“I look back now and it was unfair to measure him up against one of the greatest players who has ever played the game – but I think really highly of the young man, both on and off the field.

“He’s had an incredible pre-season. He’s covering the ground really well, he’s looking dynamic, and I’m really excited about this year (for Humphrey).”

Hardwick’s Suns enter 2025 in a much stronger position than they did 12 months ago.

The aggressive recruitment of Daniel Rioli and John Noble has transformed the shallow running defender room into a position of considerable strength and both will be plug-and-play options into a system they know well.

The key defensive trio of Sam Collins, Charlie Ballard and $10m man Mac Andrew looms as one of the best in football and the same can be said for the on-ball brigade, with the quartet of Noah Anderson, Matt Rowell, Sam Flanders and Touk Miller.

Forward of centre Ben King is primed to go to another level in 2025 after his first full pre-season in four years and the club is excited about the development of second-year Suns Academy graduates Jed Walter and Ethan Read who have shown considerable growth in pre-season.

A previously shallow small forward pool was strengthened by the arrival of ready-made pressure mid-forward Leo Lombard from the Suns’ Academy. His best mate Jake Rogers, who has one of the best precision kicks in football, is expected to take a big leap in season two.

On paper the Suns boast the most complete team in their history. The job for Hardwick and his coaching staff is to convert that talent into a finals side.

“I’m very bullish about what we can achieve and how we can achieve it,” Hardwick said.

“The players are far more advanced this pre-season. Last year we were still learning where to run and how to run; now they know why to run, if that makes sense.

“The leadership of our playing group has drastically improved. Our ability to play moments will be significantly better this year compared to last year.

“We looked at the games we lost and a lot of those were interstate where we didn’t play moments well enough. That’s from a player point of view but also a team and coaching point of view – we all learned some lessons.

“I think we’ll play those moments a hell of a lot better which will keep us in good stead and hopefully win us a few more games than last year.”