Gold Coast had this all figured out three years ago.
It's the beginning of 2023, and the Suns have never made the finals in their existence.
The Academy was beginning to blossom as a quartet of prospects (Jed Walter, Jake Rogers, Ethan Read and Will Graham) were emerging as first-round selections. The club tipped their rise up the rankings, and had secured enough draft capital to lock them away, with all four bids coming with the top 26 selections.
Tick.
Whilst they were ensuring the development of said youngsters, the Suns were getting to work on making sure Damien Hardwick became their next senior coach.
Gold Coast were once again flatlining and never rose above 10th position in 2023, ultimately seeing the departure of Stuart Dew.
Hardwick ended his time at Richmond after the club's Round 10 loss to Essendon, with three premierships to his name.
The wheels were in motion.
The Suns signed, sealed and delivered Hardwick, and he joined the club alongside the quartet of Academy graduates.
Upon getting his feet under the desk, the champion coach brashly said that he was a piece of the premiership puzzle, and the majority of moves were already in place. The keyword being the majority.
"Eighty per cent of our first premiership side is sitting in this room right now ... this side and this club are very capable of saluting in the not-too-distant future," he said following his appointment.
Hardwick's first season in charge saw a minor uptick in on-field performances, knocking off reigning premiers Collingwood as well as the perennially contending Geelong side in comprehensive fashion.
Alas, it was not translated to a September appearance, but resulted in the most wins (11) in a season ever.
The acquisitions of Academy gun Leo Lombard, as well as Daniel Rioli and John Noble, were specific, whilst the club also took an approach to gathering draft capital for 2025.
All three were successes. Draft points accumulated.
Tick.
The 2025 season was when everything came together, with the Suns playing in the finals for the first time.
An impressive elimination final win against Fremantle also added another piece of history to the club, while a loss to the more experienced and eventual premiers, Brisbane, lost no admirers.
A fortnight later, Matt Rowell was crowned the 2025 Brownlow Medallist.
But the planning of the past two years set the club up to attack the off-season like it had done 12 months earlier, and further its claim for genuine stakes in the premiership race.
With enough draft points to secure first-round prospects and ready-made talents Zeke Uwland and Dylan Patterson, the Suns could also target established stars.
Charlie Curnow and Christian Petracca were quickly on the radar for Gold Coast, with the latter officially joining the Queensland club during Wednesday's trade deadline.
Jamarra Ugle-Hagan also signed with the Suns.
Adding a Norm Smith medallist and a former Pick 1 shows just how ruthless this club has become, and what is needed to succeed in the AFL.
They sold their 2026 first-round selection as well as two (Pick 7 and 8) picks from this year they had accumulated during deals with other clubs.
Craig Cameron, Suns GM of Player Talent and Strategy, details the club's position on its aggressive tactics over the past three years, which is poised to pay dividends in 2026.
"The best way to look at it is through the perspective of a three-year window," Cameron said on AFL Trade Radio on Thursday.
"We knew how strong our Academy was going to be in terms of producing some talented players. We felt we had our (salary) cap in the right position to be able to attack the market.
"Three years ago, we took four Academy boys in the first round. Last year, we took Leo Lombard. This year, there's a number of Academy players; we think two of them will be first-rounders.
Midfield is about to go offfff 🥶 pic.twitter.com/7At8f910WQ
— Gold Coast Suns (@GoldCoastSUNS) October 15, 2025
"So we needed to make sure we made trades and collected enough draft points to be able to acquire those players. But we also wanted to improve the ready-made players for our club.
"Daniel Rioli last year, John Noble and this year, with Christian and Jamarra.
"It's been a three-year plan, and a three-year window for us to make those changes. We made a decision, having done that for three years, that we could afford to let a little bit of future draft capital go so we could get ourselves set."
Only time will tell if the merciless nature of Gold Coast's recruiting will pay off, but they have given themselves every chance to reach further than ever before.
