Phil Davis believes Gold Coast can play finals for the first time in 2024 under new coach Damien Hardwick.
The Suns are yet to crack the top eight in 13 seasons since entering the AFL but with three-time premiership coach Hardwick at the helm, many believe that scenario will change the year.
Former GWS co-captain Davis, who retired last season, experienced an immediate uptick as the Giants stormed into the Preliminary Final under Adam Kingsley.
He feels that the knowledge Kingsley gained during his time as Richmond assistant allowed the Giants to improve vastly, and with that in mind he is backing the Suns to do something similar under the tutelage of Hardwick.
Davis describes it as a “Richmond approach”, stemming from the high-pressure game they orchestrated during their recent premiership era which included a dominant Grand Final win over the Giants in 2019.
“I think they do (play finals for the first time),” Davis said on SEN Breakfast.
“I look at their team and I really don’t see too many weaknesses, especially if Ben King can take the next step.
“From the little whispers I’ve heard, I don’t think they feel as though they’ve been in a position like this with such a crystal clear game plan and an identity that they think will really stack up.
“I’m hearing that they’re absolutely loving it (under Hardwick). That’s nothing against Stuart Dew.
“I saw it first-hand with Adam Kingsley last year with that Richmond approach. It was so structured and once you understand how it works - and you saw it with the Giants last year - it just falls into place.
“Leon Cameron was very big on ‘this is how we play’ but there’s a little bit of freedom and flair around it. Well, the Richmond approach is, ‘no, this is how we do it, we don’t mess on this, this and this’, and then it slowly unfolds.”
Davis believes that Hardwick will feed the Suns a diet of maniacal pressure around the ball, like he did with the Tigers, as it will give his team a higher chance of scoring more frequently.
“Pressure on the ball,” said Davis when asked which part of the Richmond model they will focus on the most.
“Because fundamentally, if you win the ball back in the back third or back 50 of your field, you’ve got 100-150 metres to move the ball every time.
“The best teams move the ball 80 metres to score because they turn it over closer to their goal. If you put pressure on the ball you’re going to limit their scoring but improve your scoring.
“That’s what they’ll be doing. They’ll be fanatical about it.”
The 192-game defender played in seven straight wins over the Suns between 2015 and 2020, witnessing how they have been easier to play against over the journey.
“If I looked at Gold Coast (in the past) I thought behind the ball you could really play with them, you could move them around because their pressure on the ball wasn’t at the level that they could dictate behind the ball,” he added.
“So you could move and shake and away you’d go.
“We had great success for a long time against Gold Coast.”
The Suns will meet the Giants in the AFL Community Series in Canberra on February 29 before Hardwick’s team kicks off the 2024 season proper against Adem Yze’s Richmond in Opening Round on March 9.
