‘No apologies’: Dimma yet to speak to mate Dew after Suns’ ‘cutthroat’ call

Damien Hardwick admits he hasn’t spoken to premiership teammate Stuart Dew since being announced as the new Gold Coast coach – and Dew’s replacement.

The 2004 Port Adelaide premiership teammates have been mates for years, but Hardwick said he had yet to reach out to the man he’s replacing on a new six-year deal.

“I haven’t (spoken to Dew),” he said during Monday’s press conference.

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“It’s a conversation piece that one and look, the reality is football is a business and we know that there is a human element to that. And it’s very cutthroat. That’s the reality of the situation.

“You know, my time will come and some other assistant coaches’ times will come and footy directors. This is the nature of the business we’re in. There’s no apologies for that – you’ve got to succeed and that’s the reality of the situation I come into now.

“You know, as I said, I’m not the Messiah. I’m part of the part of the puzzle that’s going to take us where we need to go. So that to me is the best part of the job.”

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It was only in May Dew laughed as he recalled texting Hardwick when he announced his departure from Richmond, putting the heat instantly on his friend’s job at the Suns.

“It’s funny, isn’t it? I feel like we should be celebrating Damien, his contribution to the game, his journey … I certainly think 24 hours should have been sufficient to celebrate him,” he said at the time.

“(But) it’s become a little bit of a sport as to who’s next. I find it amusing, (and) I texted Damien about it.”

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On Monday, Suns chairman Bob East admitted the Dew scenario could have been better handled – after backing in the coach before sacking him weeks later.

“I think in terms of the process, the evaluation, the ultimate outcome – no regrets,” East said.

“Is there better ways of getting through these things? I’m sure that there can be.

“I’m always highly conscious that these are emotional decisions and there’s people’s livelihoods at stake and for this organisation, or any organisation, it’s always a tricky endeavour. We really do have a lot of compassion about everything we do and some of those days are really challenging.

“The board was really clear from the outset we wanted to do a proper evaluation and then we wanted to run a proper process and we wanted to get a good coach. I think at a high level, we can be satisfied that there’s a good outcome here. But it’s a tricky industry.”

Hardwick said he’d leave the final round to interim coach Steven King before stepping back in for post-season list discussions and starting to plot the Suns’ game style for 2024 and beyond.

“I look at these guys, they’ve got incredible strength – they’re here for a reason. So let’s unleash those,” he said.

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“Let’s make sure we’ve got a game style that we can implement that brings out the strength of our players – fast, dynamic, footy I love and I’m sure our fans will love as well.

“Defensively, you want to be really, really hard to beat. But we also want to make sure that every game and what I will say is Gold Coast Suns have been in every game this year.

“There’s been a couple like most sides that every now and then they haven’t delivered but the fact of the matter is they’re in every contest which is something they should be proud of and build on. So for me, it’s about being you know, really brazen offensively (and) defensively being really, really hard to score against but more importantly been proud to show up every week.”