The Gold Coast Suns have seen a raft of their best players depart the club over the years, with the recent departure of Tom Lynch perhaps the most impactful.
On SEN Breakfast, Garry Lyon and Tim Watson discussed the state the expansion club is currently in, having seen scores of their best young talent leave over the past few years.
"The Gold Coast Suns footy club are sitting there going 'right, this is a start-up team, we've been handed these draft picks - we went and drafted Caddy, we went and drafted O'Meara, we drafted Lynch, we drafted Prestia, we drafted Bennell, we drafted Matera, we drafted Dixon and then Garlett."
"'We drafted these extraordinary, talented players... we couldn't keep them'," said Lyon.
"'For whatever reason we think you didn't help us because the setup you gave us for these players was stuffed. The AFL have not helped us at all, we've lost them. We know we're going to have to start again. We're up against it'.
"'Now we've got these two clubs sitting there going, you can have your New Caddys and your New O'Mearas and your New Lynchs and your New Prestias, but guess what, in two years we're gonna take 'em," Lyon said in an impassioned speech empathising with the Suns.
"You'll lose them again," said Watson.
"The only hope they've got is if they can build themselves the right destination-type environment, that you and I keep talking about, with the right building blocks.
"That's gonna take a lot of work, and a lot of convincing to those players - that when they go there that they're associated with a great club because they've got the best people around them and they feel that in their environment.
"And also they've got to see that there's going to be a future for them there to have success."
The Suns are also set to lose Aaron Hall to North Melbourne in this NAB AFL Trade Period.
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