Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has said he was "surprised" when he found out Collingwood legend Scott Pendlebury was leaving the Magpies to join Gold Coast.
Like most football fans, when news broke that Pendlebury would be a Sun in 2027, Mitchell said he thought it was just a rumour.
However, the Hawks coach told Fox Footy's AFL 360 on Monday night that he soon found out that wasn't the case.
"I was certainly surprised when we ran into it," Mitchell said.
"I thought it was a rumour and one of those things you don't worry about and then you see it's legitimate.
"I don't know him well, but he seems to be quite a thoughtful person who has thought it through with a level of detail.
"The fact that it happened so quickly afterwards, I suspect enough people knew it was going to happen and what he was trying to achieve. If he wants to be a senior coach, and it sounds like he does, credit to him for making a tough call."
Mitchell made a similar move at the end of 2016 after playing 307 games for Hawthorn.
The then-veteran midfielder travelled over to West Coast as a player for the 2017 season before joining the Eagles coaching ranks in 2018. A move which culminated in winning another premiership (his fifth at AFL level).
Pendlebury is expected to follow a similar path at Gold Coast with a keen eye on becoming a senior coach in the years to come.
Mitchell said he found the move to a new club beneficial for his coaching journey.
"I think seeing things from the other side is always going to be very different," he said.
"Also, it's not the way you can do and the way you don't do, it's just what questions to ask. Seeing how things are done from different organisations obviously gives you a much more rounded view of the game and makes you recognise what you have had and also some things that can potentially be better."
