Gold Coast president Tony Cochrane has rubbished Caroline Wilson’s claim that the AFL wants Alastair Clarkson to coach the Suns.
Clarkson, a four-time premiership coach with Hawthorn, has been linked to the Suns coaching position, currently occupied by Stuart Dew.
“I think the AFL wants Alastair Clarkson to coach the Gold Coast,” Wilson told FiveAA.
“I have heard Alastair linked to other clubs, I’ve even heard him linked to St Kilda, however, I just think the AFL’s wish would be the Gold Coast.”
Cochrane told Sportsday that Wilson’s comments are simply not true and that the Suns have not spoken to any other coach.
“I think like a lot of members of the media, she’s just making that up,” Cochrane said.
“We have a very strong working relationship with the AFL, and I have a particularly good working relationship with pretty much everybody within the AFL – including Gillon McLachlan.
“Gillon McLachlan has never once said to me, ‘You should get Alastair Clarkson as your coach’.
“This is just media speculation, you’ve got to find something to talk about, so it’s just stuff that’s made up out of thin air.
“We have not talked to any other coach – nor do we intend to – because right at the moment, we’ve got a coach, he’s called Stuart Dew.
“Stewie’s built up a tremendous rapport and a fantastic sense of being around our place.”
Entering his fifth season as Suns coach, Dew comes out of contract at the end of 2022.