Kane Cornes rips Damien Hardwick amid 'bizarre' Gold Coast Suns development

Kane Cornes says Richmond fans have every right to be 'filthy' amid reports the Gold Coast Suns CEO Mark Evans has flown to Europe to personally present an offer to former Tigers coach Damien Hardwick to take over the Queensland club next season. Hardwick made the surprise move to walk away from the Tigers earlier this year after 14 years and three premierships, citing burnout as part pf his reasoning.

Taking the newfound free time to go on a jaunt through Europe, returning briefly to attend Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin's 300th AFL game earlier this season. He's since returned to his overseas journey, with the Suns in the meantime sacking head coach Stuart Dew, as the finals yet again drift out of view for the expansion club.

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According to The Age, the Suns have already spoken to Hardwick via telephone wile he continues his holiday in Europe. It comes after Hardwick, in the weeks following his departure from Richmond, told the Dyl and Friends podcast hosted by former AFL player Dylan Buckley that he already missed aspects of his coaching job.

The report from The Age's Sam McClure also suggested the Suns have, at least at this stage, no plans to recruit anyone else for the head coaching job. Ironically Dew has also been spotted overseas, having linked up with the Australian men's Test squad throughout the Ashes series in the wake of his sacking.

The news of the Suns' approach to Hardwick left Cornes feeling 'sceptical' about how Hardwick's abrupt departure from Richmond had played out. He suggested Hardwick had left the club high and dry after their recruitment of former GWS Giants midfielders Tim Taranto and Jacob Hopper for a raft of draft picks, players who he has been critical of throughout the 2023 season, to some degree of controversy.

“If I was a Richmond fan, I’d be absolutely filthy,” he told SEN. “He’s traded all their draft picks. He’s bolstered the midfield, he was contracted until the end of 2024.

He lasted nine games in 2023, citing burnout and now he’s going to coach a rival a couple of weeks later. It’s a bizarre story to me and I love Damien Harwick and I love what he’s done. But I’m sceptical of the whole thing.”

Kane Cornes 'sceptical' amid Gold Coast pursuit of Hardwick

Cornes also questioned whether Hardwick was the best fit for the Suns, unconvinced that the nature of his departure from Richmond made him the best candidate for shaping the Suns into a premiership contender. Hardwick's record at the Tigers is undeniable, having taken over in 2010 and eventually steering them to a grand final breakthrough in 2017, with repeats in 2019 and 2020.

“Is he the right man for Gold Coast? I know what his resume says. I know what a great coach and football person he has been," Cornes added.

“But coaching is a job where you need energy. You need to be all in. You don’t want to come back in January. You don’t want to be having time off.

"You don’t want to be burnt out. This club needs to play finals, it needs to play finals next year.”

Hardwick told the Dyl and Friends podcast in the wake of his sacking that he already missed coaching just a fortnight after his departure - albeit with the caveat that he wanted to miss the work, rather than carry on for too long and wind up being unable to be at his best.

“I’d be lying if I said I couldn’t see myself doing it,” Hardwick replied if asked if he still had the urge to coach at AFL level. “I love it, I miss it. I’ve been out for two weeks and I wanted to miss it, if that makes sense?

“I need to decompress for a while, I need to go away, I need to reflect. And figure out things that make me good and things that I can sit there and put me in a dark place, as well.”

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