Gold Coast and Stuart Dew have parted ways, effective immediately.
Per multiple reports, the Suns have opted to end Dew’s tenure as the club’s head coach in his sixth season in the role.
New chairman Bob East this week returned from a trip overseas and that has coincided with Dew’s demise.
SEN’s Tom Morris has confirmed Tom Browne’s previous report.
Confirming Tommy Browne's report, Gold Coast players have just been told Stuart Dew has been sacked.
— Tom Morris (@tommorris32) July 10, 2023
Steven King will take over as interim coach. @1116sen
As recently as last week, CEO Mark Evans insisted that Dew would remain in the job following reports by Caroline Wilson that his days at the club were numbered.
“You’ve got to feel for Stuey Dew, given what Mark Evans said last week and given the support he had at the club, to be sacked in this manner is pretty brutal,” Morris said on SEN’s Whateley.
“Stuart Dew spoke with the powers that be late last night and he was informed that he would be sacked.
“The players came in this morning and were informed by Mark Evans at a meeting that Dew had been sacked with immediate effect.”
Dew, 43, departs the Suns with a 36-1-84 win-draw-loss record from 121 matches.
He took the role in late 2017 with his best season coming in 2022 when the Suns won 10 matches. They currently sit 13th on the ladder with a 7-9 record.
The Port Adelaide and Hawthorn premiership player was contracted with the Suns until the end of 2024.
It is understood that senior assistant Steven King will step in as Dew’s caretaker for the remainder of the 2023 season.
Three-time Richmond premiership coach Damien Hardwick is the name being linked most heavily with the job at the Suns.
A press conference has been called for 11:30am AEST.
Gold Coast Chairman Bob East gave the club’s explanation for the decision on Tuesday morning.
“Last night the Gold Coast Suns Board of Directors met, and it was determined that Stuart Dew would not continue in his role as Senior Coach,” East told the club’s website.
“We feel we have a great opportunity to achieve success with this group but haven’t seen the improvement we were after in 2023 and as a football club we must be prepared to make tough decisions, in that pursuit of success.
“Stuart has made a significant contribution to this football club, dedicating countless hours towards helping establish a platform from which our club can grow, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank him, his wife Sarah and family for the last six years.”
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