Footy Classified panelist Caroline Wilson has urged Gold Coast to clean out their coaching personnel and instate Alastair Clarkson as coach.
The Suns have had a torrid 2021, with injuries in tandem with poor performances resulting in another year of mediocrity for the league's second-youngest club.
With this, the heat is now on coach Stuart Dew to make ends meet for the Suns and achieve some tangible reward.
Since taking over the reins at the end of 2017, Dew hasn't been able to go one better than his predecessors and secure a top eight position, with 2021 being the season many thought in which they'd take the next step.
Dew's contract is up at the end of 2022, and should he fail to achieve the target of finals footy, many would think that it is time for a change in the Sunshine state.
Off the back of the lack of progress, Caroline Wilson has offered up a solution in the form of a four-time premiership coach.
“They need to make some big changes. I hate to be brutal, but I think that the coaching panel is just not up to it. We’ve seen that year in, year out and we’re seeing it again at the moment,” Wilson said on Footy Classified.
“I’m not bagging Stuart Dew but I don’t think it’s working for him and he doesn’t have a strong support team around him. We know there are issues there, we spoke about Josh Francou the other week.
“Surely you pay Alastair Clarkson whatever it takes – $2 million dollars – half of that money does not go in soft cap (and) would come out of AFL Queensland, there was promotional money as well."
The Suns' most recent result was a 50-point flogging at the hands of Ken Hinkley's Port Adelaide, only serving to exacerbate problems within the inner sanctum of Gold Coast.
Although Wilson sees the solution to the problem being a full clean-out of the club's coaching staff, Suns President Tony Cochrane has said the club will continue to support Dew and his assistants regardless of results.
“You can’t keep defending these fade-outs. We’re now in the fourth year under Stuart, and we expect to see a strong finish to the season,” the Suns president said on Fox Footy's On the Couch.
“That’s a problem for every player in the club, it’s a problem for everybody associated with the club, you can’t just hang it on one person.”
“Look, I’m sure Stuey is more than acutely aware that he’s got all the pressure in the world on him at the moment.
“But what we’ve got to do with (coaching group member and former Adelaide coach) Neil Craig and others, we’ve got to get around him and we’ve got to try and get him through this period and see him out the other side with a degree of success in the back end of our season."
TONY COCHRANE: I’ve got a lot of time for Stuart Dew. He's got a lot of wonderful qualities. One of the problems today is people don't give coaches enough time.
— SEN SA 1629 (@1629senSA) June 16, 2021
Only time will tell whether Dew is given a new contract or the sack, with the ex-Hawks and Port Adelaide premiership player needing a strong finish to season 2021 to build into next year.
In Round 15, the Suns take on North Melbourne in what is a very winnable game for Dew's side. Should they come away with the four points it could very much be what they need to kick on and storm home with a wet sail.
