Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew has responded to Caroline Wilson’s claim that he had a falling out with senior Suns assistant coach Josh Francou.
Wilson reported on Channel Nine’s Footy Classified that Dew and Francou’s relationship had broken down since the latter announced that he would be leaving the Suns at season’s end.
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“The pair had much harsher words about three weeks ago when the Francous sold their house and I think it was posted on a real estate Instagram,” Wilson said.
“Dew was furious, he hadn’t had a chance to tell his players, the coaches, the other staff that Francou was leaving.
“This is the way it has been explained to me why the falling out has happened, but I think it goes a lot deeper than that and I think it started earlier in the year.”
Dew, who played alonside Francou at Port Adelaide, was asked whether there was any truth to Wilson’s report.
“Nah, there’s not,” the Suns coach told Sportsday.
“There’s family reasons and it’s not my story to tell, so I think that needs to be respected.
“The only instance where there was a misunderstanding was that Josh had told us (he was leaving) – and when I say us – the key stakeholders of the footy club, and then the real estate agent advertised that on Instagram. We made the call.
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“We said, ‘Just so you know, it’s out there now’ then he (real estate agent) was like, ‘Geez, I didn’t know that. I’ll sort it. It’s off’.
“We would like Josh to stay, but I respect that decision. His son has been boarding in Adelaide since the start of the year, so we knew that this was on the cards.
“It’s not a surprise. He’s got two other boys to follow. That’s essentially it.
“I’ve known him for 20 years. I’ll be close to him for the next 20.”
Suns are 16th on the ladder with Dew under contract for another season.