Now that Stuart Dew has been sacked, the immediate focus turns to who will replace him at the Gold Coast Suns.
The most obvious replacement is recently-departed Richmond coach Damien Hardwick.
Triple premiership coach Hardwick stepped down at the Tigers in May after 14 years at the helm, citing burn out at that particular club as the main reason for his departure.
But in the background there have been constant murmurings that the Suns could be for him.
With his Port Adelaide premiership teammate Dew no longer in the way, the path is clear for Hardwick to return to the coaching caper.
SEN’s Tom Morris and Gerard Whateley discussed the possibility of Hardwick heading to the Gold Coast with both indicating it is a very likely scenario.
“I don’t think they (the Suns) are going to go through a process in the traditional sense like what other clubs have done and line up four or five coaches and have them go through three or four interviews,” Morris said on SEN’s Whateley.
“I think that they’ll cherry-pick who they want and what it means is that Damien Hardwick’s name comes firmly into the picture.
“Hardwick has been pretty consistent along the way, despite what I’ve seen and read the last few weeks, that he was burnt out at Richmond and felt like he’d taken the club as far as he could go, but he wasn’t necessarily burnt out from coaching completely.
“I know that what appeals to Damien Hardwick is coaching again outside the football bubble (of Melbourne). He’s certainly got an affinity with Gold Coast and would look at the Gold Coast as a place to live.
“All those things add up.
“I’d be interested to see whether the Gold Coast Suns make contact with someone like Chris Scott, who is out of contract at the end of next year, whether they feel like they need to make contact with someone like ‘Bucks’ (Nathan Buckley) or Don Pyke at Sydney.
“But I’d be very surprised if Damien Hardwick wasn’t number one on their list.”
Whateley added: “It would be the least surprising development in football if Damien Hardwick was the coach of the Suns in October.”
Morris continued: “He’s got so many connections at that club as well from Richmond.
“Craig Cameron was at Richmond, he’s now the list manager at the Suns, Wayne Campbell is there, he’s got a connection with Mark Evans as well.
“There’s players like Brandon Ellis who was very close to Damien Hardwick at Richmond.
“Without wanting to say that it’s done, because I’ve got no idea whether it’s done or not, I’d be surprised if he’d agreed verbally or officially.
“It just seems like the most predictable storyline in football that Damien Hardwick will take over at the Gold Coast Suns for 2024 and beyond.”
Whateley pointed out that Hardwick would have had no interest in the Suns if Dew was still at the helm.
“The only way for that to happen was for the job to be vacant by the time he returned from Europe, because there’s no way that Damien Hardwick would have undermined Stuart Dew while he was actively in the job,” he added.
Morris replied, suggesting talks with Hardwick’s camp would have already been underway as Gold Coast’s Dew decision became clearer.
“Exactly right,” he said further.
“Gold Coast needed to make the call, maybe with a nod and a wink from Damien Hardwick’s manager. That’s the sort of thing that happens rather than Hardwick himself (holding talks).
“So the Suns saying they haven’t spoken to Hardwick is accurate, but it doesn’t mean the Suns haven’t got a nod and a wink from his manager Paul Connors or someone else close to Hardwick, which allows them to make the call on Stuart Dew knowing that Hardwick would be keen for that role.
“I’d be surprised that hasn’t happened here.”
It is understood that senior assistant Steven King will step in to see out the season for the Suns as they go about making plans for their fourth full-time senior coach.