TWO days after finishing his second season in charge of Gold Coast, Stuart Dew spoke with AFL.com.au's Michael Whiting to go over the ups and down of the previous six months.

Here's the full transcript of the interview, minus questions on the future of Jack Martin and Callum Ah Chee, who have since requested trades from the club.

Michael Whiting: Are you relieved the season has finished?

Stuart Dew: Haha! Towards the back end of the year a lot of guys got different opportunities, but we were also working on things looking forward to next year. In a sense we're keen for the season to be done, but with a view to getting back to work when the boys get back from their break.

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MW: It's a bit general, but how do you assess the year?

SD: If you looked at our numbers, the last six or seven weeks we dropped off a fair way in terms of margin. If we had these results spread throughout the year, it would look a lot different, but we didn't. We started really well, competed really hard, lost some close games and then we got stung by some injuries in the middle part of the year. The ones that particularly hurt us were our key defenders, Rory (Thompson) – even before the season – and Sam Collins. And then Jack Hombsch who was battling above his weight a bit. We got exposed a fair bit down back against the talls. A few players kicked some bags against us which is really hard to stop because we didn't want to put extras behind the ball. We could have protected some of those margins by loading up the backline, but that's not the style of footy we want to play going forward. We probably dealt with a couple of heavier losses and were keen to box on the other way.

MW: Give me the sales pitch on the improvement. Those who didn't see you weekly will see the 18 straight losses, bottom of the table, what a disaster.

SD: The improvement is our first-year players that played this year, Jack (Lukosius) and Ben (King) and even Izak (Rankine), even though he didn't play senior football, he's improved so much in how he prepares, how he sees the game and integration in the club. Caleb Graham played this year when at the start of the year he probably thought he was a year or two away. Then our second-year players like Charlie Ballard and Wil Powell really progressed. Powelly got injured unfortunately but Charlie's had a great year down back, a real consistent competitor. Then our third-year players, like (Ben) Ainsworth and (Jack) Bowes, those guys missed some football but Benny's game on the weekend was his best. From an individual sense - which sounds funny in a team game - there's been a lot of growth and improvement. What we need is more consistency there and we know guys in that age bracket will be inconsistent at times. The positive for us has been all those individual pieces and our challenge now is to piece that together across summer and get greater synergy.

(L-R) Top draft picks Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine and Ben King. Picture: AFL Photos



MW: Realistically, what does improvement look like over the next few years? How will you judge it? And how long will it take?

SD: We're really keen for next year to come and see these pieces come together. At different times this year our turnover differential was really poor. Our challenge was not winning the ball, it was giving it back to the opposition far too easily. The improvement for us is owning the footy and our ball movement, how that looks, to give our forwards every chance. In the back half of the year, Sam Day and Ben King gave us some really good targets and now we need some more fluency in our ball movement to give more opportunity, not only for them, but others. If you get our best 22 on the park, we've got a really dangerous forward line as well. Our back half turnovers really did hurt us. There's some key areas to focus on over summer. We did a power of work on fitness (last summer), but our retention of the ball is going to be really important across summer.

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MW: You played a pretty distinctive game style, you wanted to keep it contested for most of the season before opening it up late. What's the progression from that or is that the model you want to use?

SD: Probably just a bit more balance. Early on we used that style as we thought that would suit who we had playing. At the bye, obviously finals weren't on the agenda for us, so we did try and open the game up a bit more. I've mentioned at different times that cost us in different games against far greater opposition, they were able to open us up. We certainly think the lessons learnt from that and the experimentation around that area of the game will hold us in good stead. Probably getting a more balanced style …. we certainly think the list demographic and mix of pace and inside, that helps. At different times we didn't have a lot of speed playing and had very similar physical attributes.

MW: It's a problem isn't it, your (lack of) speed? I know you had injuries to some of your quicker guys, though.

SD: It does change the look. If you've got Izak (Rankine), Sean (Lemmens), Benny Ainsworth and even Wil Powell and Pearce Hanley playing a lot of footy, we're a totally different-looking side.

MW: Just looking broader, and I know coaches don't like speaking about it, but the club's pitched the AFL Commission - how much would a top-end priority pick help?

SD: It'll help, but it's a piece of the puzzle. We don't think it's one thing that will help or fix. From a coaching point of view, we want to provide a good program for the players, which we think we absolutely do. If there is an assistance in that sense, that'll help, but we're certainly not hanging our hat on one thing.

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MW: You've lived in both northern states, New South Wales and now Queensland – is the 'go home' thing real?

SD: I just think player movement is real. Adelaide Football Club have dealt with it just as much as this club. They've won more games of football but when you look at the players that have left that football club, and even GWS, a little bit gets masked because they're able to win with greater depth. I think where we've struggled when guys have left, we haven't had the depth to cover, and that's what we need to build, so if players leave for a variety of reasons, we've got guys to cover. We are at the forefront of that (go home) because of results plus players, whereas Adelaide and GWS have lost a lot of quality players, but they've moved forward because of depth, and that's our goal.

MW: So tell us, what have you done to change the environment to mitigate against the want for players to go elsewhere?

SD: Decisions we made at the end of the year around the list and off-field staff changes, I think that goes into it. It's less about me personally and more about decisions around the program, what our focuses are and seeing the way forward. I'm sure the players here would see the benefits of the changes we've made to the program. Is that a more challenging pre-season? Yes, it was. But I think the players will all admit themselves that that set them up for a lot of them, a career-best year. The results haven't come because a lot of them are first-, second- and third-year players finding their way. Guys like Jack (Lukosius) and Ben (King) and Caleb Graham and Jez McLennan, they've come into a really professional environment and they would see the improvements, they've made and the growth on and off the field. That plays the biggest part. Yes, there's contracts and winning, but how they feel when they walk in every day, they want to feel like they can improve every day and we think we've done that.

MW: I'll ask you about Jack and Ben then, they're the two the rest of the country is most interested in, and whether they stay. What's your feelings on them? Will they stay? And what have you seen from them?

SD: What we've seen is that they love coming to work every day. They're very humble, hard-working players. They've integrated well into the footy club, very quickly, like all the other young lads. Our role models, our senior group of players are very approachable and they love the club and are really invested in who comes into the club and how they fit in and those guys fit in no worries at all. We'd love them to stay. We understand they'll have a decision to make at some point, but they do have 12 months to run on their contract. There is that obsession as to how quickly, but I think we see at other clubs, some go really quickly, even before the season starts, others might go after their first year. They'll sit back, review how they've felt, how they fit in, talk to their manager and family and make a decision at some point. If they were out of contract this year, we'd be a little more worried, but they're still here next year and we're confident we're giving them what they need.

MW: Obsession is a good word. Do you feel externally the pressure or interest comes early than it should?

SD: For sure. We've got a lot of other players out of contract that no one asks about, whereas these lads have still got a contract and are 18, 19. We understand that, that's the industry these days, everyone is obsessed with player movement, obsessed. In-house we just work out what we can control, as boring as that sounds.

MW: Tell us about them as players. I can't believe how much impact Ben King had, and Jack got better as the year went on. What did you see?

SD: I saw two lads that came into the club and went about it the right way. They haven't missed a beat physically and a lot of that is to do with their professionalism and preparation and their attitude to improving. We didn't sit there and say, 'We're going to play them no matter what'. Jack was ready a little bit earlier, he'd played senior footy in South Australia. Ben had played one or maybe two games against men. We wanted a really planned approach to his potential rise into the senior team, and to be fair, it went as we mapped it, and maybe a little bit more. We thought eight to 10 games would be a good year for him if he kept progressing, but as he felt more comfortable at the level he got more exciting as the year went on. Consistently getting two or three shots at goal, which is really important, but his aerial presence was outstanding. Jack's flexibility to play forward, mid or back, and the more comfortable he got the more signs we saw of really high-quality AFL players.

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How's the pace on the big man?#AFLPiesSuns pic.twitter.com/kDWnh302Gn — AFL (@AFL) August 4, 2019

MW: So you don't feel any pressure, perceived or not, to play draftees because they're from interstate and you feel they need to have games to make them feel better?

SD: We've got to be fair to the players, No.1. There's playing games, and I know everyone would like to play games, but if they're not ready I think it would be detrimental to put them in too early. We probably had that decision with Izak for the last game. He played that one NEAFL game against Sydney and we know it was our last game and everyone would have loved him to play, but no one's going to remember round 23 in 2019 in Izak's career. We wanted to give him every possible chance to succeed in the right way. That's a long answer, but we don't feel pressure. It's important for those players and the rest of the group that we just don't want to give guys games.

MW: You've made Will Brodie work for games in your two years?

SD: His last game against Carlton was outstanding and we love Will Brodie. We think he's got such a bright future for us. Coming from Sydney and seeing the development of high-quality inside mids there, we really wanted to try and shape Will in the same way, so he plays both sides of the ball and can succeed against these top-liners and we think he can. Will is one of our exciting players going forward, he's going to be like a new recruit. We think he understands his strengths, but we also added different layers. Twelve months ago, he was just an inside mid, but now he can go forward as well. He tends to hit the scoreboard a bit when he goes forward. If he turns into a 20-goal mid, that's important to him and us.

Will Brodie has played 19 AFL games for the Suns since his debut in 2017. Picture: AFL Photos



MW: Have you had a chance to identify the reasons behind the injury toll? It's plagued this club since its inception and in your two years, you've never been batting with a full list. Have you identified whether it's bad luck or bad management?

SD: We're going through that now with the high-performance department. We've had a reasonable amount of impact injuries, which are hard to mitigate. A lot of syndesmosis, a lot of moonboots getting around the club. We'll go back through the whole program but there are a lot when someone is getting tackled and their leg folds underneath, how do you prepare for that? Is it more strength? We'll look at all aspects, it's like the gameplan and coaching, it's a natural progression. A lot of guys have played full seasons that never have.

MW: Let's finish with a good one, your co-captains (Jarrod Witts and David Swallow). Absolute slam dunk appointments. You couldn't have asked for any more, surely?

SD: They were picked on character and their influence on the group and the way they understand the landscape here and what we're trying to do. Wittsy has just had his best year, Dave's played every game and that can't be under-estimated the way he plays. Everyone talks about (Brodie) Grundy and Max Gawn, Wittsy should be in that conversation. I'm biased, but that's reality. Witty's had a fantastic year and so has Dave. They've led on and off the field. It's been amazing what they've done for the club and we're proud to have them as captains and that contributes to your environment.

Jarrod Witts stood tall as one of the Suns' captains in 2019. Picture: AFL Photos



MW: When do you get a holiday?

SD: September is normally pretty hectic and October there's a bit around the draft combine and little bit around trade, but that happens as teams drop out, so the trade week is a little more for media than the coaches. Haha! There's a little bit of time there to re-assess, reload and get ready to go again. You hit the end of the season and you're never ready for it, you want to keep going. The difference between last year, the whole place needed a break, and this year, I think everyone is half looking forward to next year already. The players and staff are keen to get in and go again.

MW: That'll do, Stuey, thank you.

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