The Gold Coast Suns have arrived back smiling from a short but successful trip to Italy to meet with former Richmond coach Damien Hardwick, SEN’s Chief Sports Reporter Sam Edmund reports.
Multiple reports revealed earlier this week that a Gold Coast party featuring the likes of Chairman Bob East and CEO Mark Evans had flown to Italy to meet with Hardwick, who is currently backpacking through Europe.
Hardwick is understood to be the Suns’ first choice to replace Stuart Dew. Hardwick cited burnout when leaving Richmond earlier this year and Edmund believes the Suns wanted to see for themselves.
“First of all, they had to go, they just had to go there for those wondering why Bob East and Mark Evans went there,” Edmund began on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“You’re not going to sign a guy to a five-year contract over Zoom or on a WhatsApp chat, you have to get in front of him.
“They had preliminary conversations remotely and Dimma said all the right things, but you’ve got to go there and you’ve got to look the guy in the eye, the guy who said, ‘I’m burnt out…’ you have to look him in the eye to make sure that what you’re saying marries up with what you’re seeing.
“Mark and Bob did that, they had a formal meeting in Cinque Terre, then they followed up with a more casual dinner…
“They were there Monday, they got back yesterday, the Gold Coast travelling party.”
Edmund now understands that the Suns are set to go all in on securing the triple-premiership coach.
“My information is the board gave them a set of criteria to work with in and around the conversation with Damien Hardwick and what they saw was what they hoped they would see, that is he’s hungry, he’s ready to go again.
“It now goes back to the Gold Coast board to what I would contend is to sort out the formalities, the finer details of what will be a five-year contract with the board in conjunction with his manager, Paul Connors.
“All the right things were said, all the right impressions were given.
“It’s a fait accompli he’s going to be the coach of the Gold Coast Suns.”
Reports have previously indicated Hardwick already had an interest in linking up with the Suns. The most successful coach of the last decade, Hardwick led Richmond to three premierships in 2017, 2019 and 2020.