Gerard Whateley has given his immediate reaction to the news that Stuart Dew has been sacked by the Gold Coast Suns.
Gold Coast will conduct a press conference at 11:30am AEST to confirm the news but it is expected that Steven King will take over as interim coach.
Suns CEO Mark Evans had been emphatic in his immediate support of coach Stuart Dew, following concerns over his future at the helm.
AFL journalist Caroline Wilson suggested that Dew’s days were numbered up on the Gold Coast as another failed season looms.
With Wilson’s reports proven to be true, Whateley says the Suns failed Dew throughout this process.
“The reporting a week ago with all of its detail around what was happening politically at the Gold Coast Suns was right,” Whateley told SEN.
“I feel for Stuart Dew that he appeared oblivious to that before it was in the public domain and then was left by the club to fight the fight for a week before ultimately being sacked.
“I don’t think that’s the way, don’t leave a man fighting for his job publicly that is already lost, don’t do that.
“There’s a level of dignity to the person you’re seeing out the door and I think they’ve failed on that front.”
SEN’s Tom Morris confirmed the news on SEN’s Whateley this morning, saying players were told on Tuesday morning.
Morris reports that Dew is unhappy with how the information of his demise was leaked to the media before he was told the decision had been made.
“I know that Stuart Dew had felt this was coming at some stage after Caroline Wilson’s report last week. His view at the time this time last week was that people on the inside of the club were conspiring against him,” Morris said on SEN’s Whateley.
“He had his views as to who those people were but was unable to confirm exactly that. It’s fair to say that he was pretty filthy this time last week with the report coming out, not as much with ‘Caro’ as he was with those people telling Caro.
“As a result, this wasn’t as much of a surprise to him this week as it would have been if the Caro report didn’t come out.
“He didn’t argue with its authenticity, he didn’t think that it was incorrect, but he was just frustrated that people within the club were talking to a journalist about his future before talking to him.
“Stuart Dew is extremely frustrated and angry with whoever those people are within the club that were speaking to Caroline Wilson before speaking to him about his future.”
Dew, 43, departs the Suns with a 36-1-84 win-draw-loss record from 121 matches.