Everything is going wrong for Gold Coast at the present; the year has effectively slipped away, there is reported unhappiness among the playing group, and stars are considering an exit come the end of the season.
To make matters worse, one recent piece of good news for Gold Coast, the re-signing of emerging key forward Jed Walter to a three-year deal, was overshadowed by this week's disabled toilet incident involving Suns players Jamarra Ugle-Hagan and Mac Andrew.
The duo were seen leaving a disabled toilet together during the recent rugby league State of Origin game at Suncorp Stadium. Although the club has denied that illicit drugs were involved, it is another scandal for the embattled Ugle-Hagan and another point of distraction for the club.
Gold Coast took a risk last off-season when it signed Ugle-Hagan to a one-year deal after the 24-year-old spent a year out of the game to deal with a litany of well-publicised personal matters.
Having had a bright start to life at the Suns, playing three consecutive games at one point, Ugle-Hagan has been unable to break his way back into the senior side despite the club's seven-game losing streak.
This most recent indiscretion with Andrew, who is 22 and on a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract, is the straw that broke the camel's back, according to Port Adelaide legend and football pundit Kane Cornes.
"This week centres around one player, and you would have to think it's been a failed experiment with Jamarra Ugle-Hagan," Cornes said on SEN's Crunch Time on Saturday.
"I'm willing to call that. What he was doing in that situation with a young player who the club has invested a lot of money and belief in is beggars belief.
"Look, he has played the three games, and I'd be surprised if he is there next year. It's been a risk that no other club was willing to take, and Gold Coast clearly thought that they were on the path to winning this year's premiership.
"You don't go about their list build the way that they did if you don't. That investment, that risk, that faith has backfired dramatically on and now off the field, which is even more serious."
Ugle-Hagan's one-year contract has a games-based trigger for a second season. However, that sits at 12 matches (he is currently on three), so whether or not he receives another chance at Gold Coast will be up to the club later this year.
Fellow South Australian and former Adelaide captain Mark Bickley agreed with Cornes.
Bickley spoke of his confusion as to why the club targeted Ugle-Hagan last off-season, given the depth of key forward talent the Suns already had.
"The other surprising thing for me around this decision was that it's not like they are Collingwood or some of these clubs that don't have any forwards whatsoever, and let's take a punt on this guy," Bickley said on Crunch Time.
"They had (Ben King), they've got Jed Walter, who's probably one of the up and rising key forwards. They have Ethan Read. Then they recruited a hybrid forward in (Christian) Petracca. I just felt like it was a surplus to needs anyway. Was it a risk they had to take?
"We are a fair way away, and I'm not going to say they shouldn't have taken a punt on it, because if it had have turned out and he had a great season, then they would have looked like world beaters. But it hasn't. So you do leave yourself open to that."
Coz anything coming from Kane Cornes is gospel. Here I was thinking Damien Barrett was the biggest bottom feeder in AFL so called journos