Former Gold Coast defender Campbell Brown has sent a warning to his ex-club, declaring he wouldn’t be shocked if they weren’t in the competition if they don’t have success soon.
The Suns are yet to make the finals in their existence, and have struggled to attract crowds, TV audiences and media coverage in Queensland. Numerous sporting clubs have been engulfed and swallowed by the Gold Coast market, and Brown believes the Suns could fall into that trap.
However, the current crop of decision makers they have at the helm could be their saving grace, according to the 2008 premiership player.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t in the AFL in 10 years if they don’t get this next era right,” Brown told SEN Breakfast.
“The AFL can’t keep pumping tens of millions of dollars into a club that’s seemingly going nowhere at the moment. Where they’re at right now is magnificent, they’ve got a really good and strong president in Tony Cochrane, who I love because he reminds me of Jeff Kennett. He demands success, keeps everyone accountable and that’s what they need.
“Mark Evans as the CEO is superb. Stuart Dew is an unknown, but it’s a fresh start, and if he is a good coach, they have a really good spine of being a successful club. I don’t know if it’s too late or not, but they must do everything in their power to keep Tom Lynch.”
Brown has faith in the Suns’ new head coach, saying his former teammate’s premiership pedigree will be a welcome addition of the Gold Coast culture.
“When a new coach comes in, it’s a good time to say, I don’t care about what’s happened in the past, this is how we go about it from here on in,” he said.
“These are my standards, team rules and my disciplines. I have no pre-conceived ideas on any of the players, I’m just going to watch you for the next six-to-eight weeks, the way you prepare, train and go about it, and then I’ll make up my mind.
“Probably the reason Gold Coast lent towards Stuart Dew over John Barker in the end is because he has won premierships as a coach and player. He went to Port Adelaide and they were successful, came to Hawthorn and won a flag, went to Sydney and won a flag and made numerous finals.
“When push came to shove, they lent towards the guy that had been around success.”
The Suns face a horror start to 2018, with their home venue Metricon Stadium unavailable for the first 11 weeks due to the Commonwealth Games. Gold Coast is scheduled to play home games in Perth against Fremantle, Cairns, Brisbane and Shanghai. Between Rounds 4-7, Dew needs to negotiate a month that includes trips to Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Ballarat.