With talk surrounding David Teague’s future at Carlton, Gerard Whateley has had a “little hunch” that Gold Coast’s Stuart Dew may also have some uncertainty about his position at the club.
Coming off a 98-point defeat last week to Melbourne, Whateley believes that Dew, like Teague, may be facing “the most awkward phase that coaches go through".
“There’s a really awkward phase where a coach whose been sized up, fairly or unfairly, ends up as the only one speaking for themselves, the only one spruiking their capacity to be able to do the job, they’re just left to do it,” Whateley said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“I just had a little hunch for the first time around Stuart Dew this week, and there was a certain defensiveness in how he answered his questions yesterday that can’t be anything else when you’re probably no longer certain that you’ve still got that same level of support.
“I think that this is the most awkward phase that coaches go through.”
Justin Leppitsch, who also went through a period where he knew his time was up at the Lions, can relate to the challenging phase that Dew may be going through.
“You’re looking at me, I’ve been through it, it’s hard,” Leppitsch responded.
“I went through a period where you know you’re sort of done a little bit, it’s a real challenge.”