Gold Coast Suns chairman Tony Cochrane has blasted former Fremantle coach Ross Lyon for his comments about the future of the expansion club.

Speaking on Footy Classified, Lyon said scrapping the Suns and continuing with a 17-team competition could help save the league as the coronavirus pandemic takes its toll.

Cochrane said he couldn’t understand why the AFL’s second-newest club comes under such constant attack.

“One thing you learn up here is the effort of defence,” he said on Sportsday.

“I can’t believe how often I have to step forward and defend our young club, it’s borderline ridiculous and incredibly frustrating.

“Everyone single person in the world has the current problem but the only real ongoing problem we have up here is one of success.

“We’ve built 28 new ovals in the last five years in the Gold Coast region and it’s not enough. We’ve got junior football in both girls and boys absolutely exploding from one end of Queensland to another and that’s because the AFL commission have done 10 years of hard work and used the TV rights money to get us in that position.

“Why anybody would even consider chopping thar growth just proves they’re not only a failed coach, but they don’t know much about economics either.”