Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew says he isn’t thinking about the current coaching landscape in the AFL on the back of Hawthorn announcing that Alastair Clarkson will leave the club at the end of 2022.
Dew is similarly out of contract at the end of next year, with the coaching merry-go-round expected to ramp up with Collingwood also on the lookout for Nathan Buckley’s successor.
A candid Dew admits that he opts not to consume a large amount of media, saying he would “get caught up” in the pressure of his role if he read what was being said about the Suns externally.
“If you think about (the coaching pressure), you probably get caught up in it,” he said on Sportsday.
“The pressure comes from the responsibility to your players and club because if you read and absorb everything, you can lose track and in all honestly, you can get caught up and think ‘why are they writing that’.
“If you consume nothing in a week, the clarity and headspace in the job that you’re paid to do is different.
“You can consume a lot – it’s easy when the boys play well to jump on (social media) when everyone is saying (good things), but when you don’t (win) it’s there as well.
“I was never a big consumer (of media as a player) and it’s even less now. You have to have the positive energy, everyone is looking at you. As leaders of a footy club, you need to absorb that.”
Gold Coast is coming off their best win of the season last Thursday, beating Richmond in one of the upsets of 2021.
But while the Suns remain in 14th spot and Dew out of contract at the end of 2022, he said he was unfazed by the mounting pressure to produce success as his deal expires.
“I’ve never really thought about contracts,” he said.
“I’ve thought if you’re there to do what you need to do (as a senior coach), then that will take care of itself.
“We’ve won five games, if we win three more and get to eight (at the end of the season), that figure may look good but it’s more about the way we play.
“We have a tough run coming up no doubt, it’s GWS next and then the top three teams.”