Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane launches passionate defence of his struggling club

FORGET Jeff Kennett, David Koch and Eddie McGuire. There is a new undisputed champion for passion in the AFL and his name is Tony Cochrane. Recap his latest stunning interview defending his under-siege club.

Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane (right) with coach Stuart Dew. Picture: AAP Images

IF you thought Jeff Kennett, David Koch and Eddie McGuire were untouchable at the top of the tree for ultra-passionate sports administrators, think again.

There is a new sheriff in town.

Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane gave us a taste of his passion during the Jaeger O’Meara trade saga.

“Unfortunately for Hawthorn, they picked an appalling year to challenge us with somebody like O’Meara,” Cochrane said at the time.

“We’re really overloaded with great draft picks this year. We’ve got a really strong year in the draft. If we’re ever going to make a stand, this is a great year in that regard.”

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The Suns later accepted a first and second round pick for O’Meara.

In 2016, Cochrane gave a massive slap to suggestions there should only be one team in Queensland.

“So what we need is the Gold Coast to get behind us, support us and stick it up the smart comments from Brisbane because everybody who lives on the Gold Coast is so over hearing how Brisbane should do it or how they shouldn’t do it,” he said.

“What we should do is build a boom gate on the M1 and charge them to come down and visit on weekends.”

But on Tuesday, Cochrane took things to a new level with an ultra-passionate defence of his under siege club.

Cochrane came off the long run to lash the Melbourne media over its reporting of the Tom Lynch contract saga, described himself as “not the nicest person” and said he knew taking over the Suns was like being handed a “poison chalice”.

Recap all the best bits from his explosive interview on SEN below.

TONY COCHRANE DEFENDS THE SUNS

“You can’t turn this quickly, we got to do everything right and it’s a long-term game plan and you need to have your tough, long pants on, to get through it and to get to the other side.” — Cochrane on his club’s future

“It’s not helped much by the continual and relentless pressure the Melbourne media has put on Tom Lynch to return to Melbourne.” — On Tom Lynch

Tom Lynch leads the Gold Coast Suns off the ground following another loss. Picture: Getty Images

“We’re doing as best we can, we’re doing all we can to keep the home fires burning and give Tom a clear pathway to what we want to achieve … and we’ll do everything we humanly can to give him a pathway to be a part of that.” — On keeping Lynch

“Anybody who’s listening now and knows me well, I can be a full blown terrorist if I want to be. In this particular case, I don’t want to go down that road, I want to go down the road of building a club and building the confidence that Tom wants to stay with us and that’s where my focus has completely and utterly been.” — On how he will respond

“Very few people down south have even spoken to me, which probably understand, I’m not the nicest person to speak to but the reality is, get up here, see what we’re doing.

“A lot of people writing these comments and making these comments on TV haven’t once come up, walked around our club, spoken to everybody, spent a day immersing themselves into what we’re trying to do and then gone away and written the article.” — On his approach

“We are winning the AFL battle in the long term, we are broadening the base, in the next generation and generation after that there will be rusted on Suns supporters … It takes generations to develop that, you guys know that, deep down in Melbourne you know that to be the truth. All the external criticism, all the brickbats, keep throwing all the shit you like at us, I’m telling you we’re going to survive, we‘re going to be a success and we’re going to be a long, long term proud part of the AFL body of people.” On the future.

“I well knew that I was being handed a poison chalice (two-and-a-half years ago), I didn’t think for a moment that I’m going to walk into this and have a blaze of glory in this role.

“There was a lot of people telling me not to do it for that reason, you’re going to ruin a really good sporting administration career here because you’re going to be trashed, but the reality is I love footy, I grew up in Adelaide, I’m an old Sturt man, footy is in my blood, it’s in my heart, I love it, I would love to be a part of building the success of our great indigenous game here on the Gold Coast, if I have to work my ass off for another 10 years to do that then so be it, that’s what I’ll be doing and I’ve got a lot of help up here.” — On his job at the Suns

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