Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew focused on beating the Sydney Swans rather than his own future

Speculation about his future is anything but a surprise for Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew.

Gold Coast Suns coach Stuart Dew is under pressure to hold his job beyond this season. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The rumblings are again getting louder, but embattled Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew says he would be a “hypocrite” if he let speculation about his coaching future affect his desire to have a positive “influence” on the Suns.

Dew is off contract at the end of the season, and not for the first time in a Suns coaching tenure dating back to 2018, he is under pressure to keep his job at the underachieving AFL club beyond this year.

The Suns are in 14th place on the ladder with just two wins from seven matches ahead of Saturday’s tough clash against the Swans at the SCG.

Dew hasn’t let talk about his future distract him from the task of trying to beat the Swans.

“It’s always there and it doesn’t go away – it fluctuates,” he said.

“I’s not like a surprise for me, therefore if I know something’s going to be there, I’m well prepared to concentrate on what I need to concentrate on.

“The more noise does not affect the way I approach coming into work, trying to influence players, influence the team (and) the coaching group.”

Dew said it be wrong to ask fringe players to perform under pressure to keep their place in the team if he wasn’t willing to do the same to ensure his long-term future at the Suns.

Embattled Suns coach Stuart Dew wants to have a positive ‘influence’ on his players. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“It’s like players that come into the team that are on the edge. We’re asking them to live in the moment, be present and deliver on what they can,” he said.

“I’m not going to be a hypocrite and turn around and do the opposite, so I’ll make sure my focus is firmly on the team and the club and where we want to get to and get better.”

Dew said “getting better” would not necessarily mean more wins.

“We need to see continual growth and if that translates to wins, fantastic, but we also just want to see us get better, and we also don’t want to just be plugging holes in a leaky boat,” he said.

“We also want to have some consistency with the way we go about it and how we’re getting better, and sometimes these things take a little bit of time to come through.”

However, time is of the essence for not only Dew’s future but also the Suns’ hopes of playing finals football.

“I know everyone likes to focus on the next game or the next month, (but) we also think that the first month is important as well,” said Dew, whose side’s two wins came in the first four weeks of the season.

“The league is ever changing, so what we thought the draw might be before the season changed pretty quickly two or three games in, and we’re seeing that.

“We’re also seeing that any team on their day can beat anyone, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re in as good a position as any, on any given weekend, to get the result that we’re after because the formline in three weeks will be different.”