Gold Coast officially unveil Damien Hardwick as their new coach

The Gold Coast Suns have unveiled their newest senior coach, with Damien Hardwick boldly declaring that the majority of the Suns’ first premiership squad is already on the list.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 11: Richmond senior coach, Damien Hardwick looks on during a Richmond training session at Punt Road Oval on August 11, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)

Damien Hardwick has not ruled out a reunion with Dustin Martin on the Gold Coast as the triple-premiership winning coach was unveiled as the Suns’ hopeful savior on Monday.

The club has secured Hardwick on a six-year deal.

The former Richmond coach, who quit Punt Rd just three months earlier, becomes the fourth permanent head coach of the Suns, and the one tasked with finally turning the perennial underperformers into a powerhouse.

He takes the reins from Stuart Dew, who was sacked following the round 17 loss to Port Adelaide.

In his first official appearance as Suns coach on Monday, Hardwick declared his intention to break the club’s finals drought and would not rule out prising Martin from his former club to help make it happen.

“He’s a contracted player at Richmond and all I want to do at the moment is sit back and enjoy the moment I’ve got here in my first day on the Gold Coast,” Hardwick said.

“List management decisions will come in due course.”

Gold Coast CEO Mark Evans and chairman Bob East were similarly tight-lipped about the possibility of Martin.

Instead, the bulk of Hardwick’s opening statement centred around the current playing list.

He likened arriving at the Suns as “waking up on Christmas day and walking out to a set of brand new toys” and declared that most of the club’s maiden premiership-winning list was already on the Gold Coast.

“Eighty percent of our first premiership side is sitting in this room right now,” Hardwick declared.

“The quality list we have, we’re capable of doing some very special things.

“I’m very much looking forward to coaching these young men and taking us to where we need to go and that’s to raise our first premiership cup, which I’m pretty sure will be in the not too distant future.”

Damien Hardwick did not rule out a pursuit of Dustin Martin. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

The timeline of events around Hardwick’s Richmond departure, Dew’s sacking and the Suns’ subsequent pursuit of their next coach had long been speculated on.

But Hardwick said the first contact he had with the Suns came “probably a week prior to meeting in Milan”.

“Then obviously they (Evans and East) wanted to fly over and meet and that’s when it became quite serious,” Hardwick said.

“That’s probably when I started to take stock and did a deeper dive into the Gold Coast boys and I started to get a little bit excited.”

Hardwick will not travel to Tasmania for the team’s final round clash with North Melbourne this weekend. He will watch from afar and wait to take over from interim coach Steven King once the 2023 season has drawn to a close.

King is expected to return next season as an assistant coach as part of a football department that Hardwick said needed no tinkering.

Damien Hardwick speaks at his first press conference as Gold Coast coach. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

Hardwick ruled out approaching recently retired Richmond stars Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt to join the club in a coaching capacity.

“I think we’re pretty set and pretty happy with what we’ve got,” Hardwick said.

“I’ve had some good conversations around that and very confident in the footy department that we’ve managed to bring together over a period of time.

“I’m not the messiah. I’m part of the puzzle that’s going to take us to where we need to go.”

He revealed he had not spoken to former Port Adelaide teammate Dew throughout the process and did not say whether such a conversation would occur.

“I haven’t – it’s a conversation piece that one,” Hardwick said.

“The reality is football is a business and we know that. There is a human element to that.

“My time will come and some other assistant coaches’ times will come … this is the nature of the business we’re in.

“(I have) no apologies for that. You’ve got to succeed and that’s the reality of the situation.”

Suns unveil Hardwick on mega six-year deal

– Jon Ralph

Gold Coast will unveil Damien Hardwick’s as the club’s newest coach late on Monday morning.

The Herald Sun can reveal Hardwick will be announced at a press conference after flying into the Gold Coast on Sunday night to start his new journey.

On Saturday Hardwick farewelled Richmond champions Trent Cotchin and Jack Riewoldt at the MCG, a day after ticking off the finer points of his contract with the Suns.

A six-year deal will handsomely reward him for his efforts but Hardwick is understood to have secured a salary that does not compromise the club’s football department cap.

The Herald Sun revealed last Monday Hardwick had agreed to a deal with the Suns after moving on from Richmond in round 10.

He left Richmond after 10 games this season despite signing GWS midfielders Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper to attempt to secure a fourth premiership for the Tigers in the modern era.

G’day coach. #AFLpic.twitter.com/QPeURALxNr

— Gold Coast Suns (@GoldCoastSUNS) August 21, 2023

He said as he departed he has lost the capacity to drag elite performances out of the Richmond group because they were no longer listening to his message as sharply as in previous seasons.

“If I couldn’t give this club the very best Damien Hardwick I wasn’t prepared to see it out,” he said.

“The job of AFL coach is very, very tough. Don’t get me wrong I love it to death. But I just need a break.”

The Suns will have a stacked list of talent as they attempt to re-sign star forward Ben King on a two-year deal over summer.

By November 20 they will add a trio of academy picks in key forward Jed Walter, ruckman Ethan Read and 172cm midfielder Jake Rogers, with Walter considered by some recruiters as the best player in the draft.

A fiercely competitive key position forward who has unrivalled competitiveness, Walter will form a formidable combination with King in coming seasons.

Hardwick attended Jack Riewoldt and Trent Cotchin’s final game on Saturday. Photo by Michael Klein.

The AFL has made clear it has not funded Hardwick’s salary in any way through an ambassadorial fund.

If the Suns asked the league’s AFLQ about ambassadorial funding they might be able to secure some funds but Hardwick would have to work for that extra salary.

Richmond star Dustin Martin is considered a chance to move to the Suns alongside Hardwick despite the strong position of Tigers CEO Brendon Gale.

He said on Saturday the club would not allow him to move to the Suns with their blessing, adamant he will play his 300th game with the Tigers next year on the last season of a seven-year $1.3 million a year deal.

Interim coach Steven King will finish his tenure as senior coach with the clash against North Melbourne this week but is contracted and will remain at the Suns next year.