Almost three months to the day after he left Richmond, Damien Hardwick is the new coach of the Gold Coast Suns.
The fourth full-time senior coach to be appointed at the Suns joins on a lengthy six-year deal, which CEO Mark Evans described as “entirely appropriate” given Hardwick’s CV.
Speaking to the media for the first time in a Gold Coast polo, Hardwick declared “80 per cent our of premiership side” is already at the club.
Suns chairman Bob East and Evans flew to Italy to meet with Hardwick during his European voyage and the triple-premiership coach says that did plenty to turn his head.
When asked when he knew he would take the Gold Coast job, Hardwick joked: “Probably after entrée, to be fair.
“It was a great conversation… we had two pretty thorough meetings.
“What has excited me first and foremost is the people we’ve got here, I know a lot of the people involved and have been around footy circles a long time and then I sort of went through the playing list and how exciting it is.
“80 per cent of our first premiership side is sitting in this room right now. There will be a few bits added along the way but the fact of the matter is this side and this club are capable of saluting in the not too distant future.
“That to me is very, very exciting. They travelled halfway across the world to come and have a meal with me, that spoke dividends to me.”
Hardwick himself suggested he’d lost the passion for coaching Richmond three months ago but says he never lost his love of coaching.
“The fact of the matter is I’ve been at that organisation for 13 years and given everything to that group of players,” he explained.
“The fact of the matter is they needed a new voice. I still love coaching, it will always be in my blood, I’m a career coach.”
Hardwick batted away multiple questions on the potential of getting Dustin Martin to Gold Coast, but didn’t rule out the possibility.
But later on, he did add: “At this stage, I’m sitting here thinking I’ve got all the people I need in the building and I don’t really need to bring anyone else at this stage.”
Numerous reports in recent weeks have suggested Martin could be open to the move, but SEN's Tom Morris reported on Monday morning that Hardwick is yet to reach out to his premiership player about a move.
The 51-year-old won’t be involved in the Suns’ Round 24 match against North Melbourne but will move into the fold over the coming weeks and play a major role in the trade period.