Another season and another year without finals for the Gold Coast Suns, but is there light at the end of the tunnel?
It's possible the Suns lack of success could set them up with the future with Stuart Dew sacked and Damien Hardwick appointed for the 2024 season.
Letter Grade: D
The Sporting News analyses Gold Coast's 2023 campaign.
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Did the Suns over/under achieve in 2023?
With the club targeting a finals appearance in 2023, there is no doubt they underachieved in their goal, finishing 15th and seeing coach Dew get the axe.
Starting the season one and four put the Suns behind the eight ball, as they only managed to win back-to-back games once, with two victories in Darwin against Western Bulldogs and Adelaide.
After Dew's dismissal and under interim coach Steven King, quality wins at home against St Kilda and Brisbane managed to keep Gold Coast in the finals race heading into round 21.
But four consecutive losses to end the campaign crushed any hope of making the eight, albeit through a tough draw with three away games.
Now with Hardwick at the helm, the Suns will be targeting finals in 2024, or at the very least being in the race for the eight until the death.
What worked?
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The Suns had relative success in their forward line with Ben King kicking 40 goals from 20 games and Jack Lukosius booting 39, including three bags of five.
With Levi Casboult chipping in and players such as Mabior Chol and Sam Day waiting in the wings, Gold Coast are well sorted in the tall forward department.
Once King came in as interim coach, Sam Flanders was given an opportunity in midfield, and was the Suns top disposal accumulator in five of the last seven games.
What went wrong?
Losing skipper Touk Miller to a meniscus tear for 11 games after round six upset the Suns midfield and any chance they had of mounting some form through the middle part of the season.
Despite talent such as Noah Anderson and Matt Rowell going through the midfield, Gold Coast couldn't find enough support to challenge consistently at the coalface.
With their season on the line and sitting 9-10 going into Round 21, four consecutive defeats to Adelaide, Sydney, Carlton and North Melbourne showed that the Suns' 15th position on the AFL ladder was fair.
Gold Coast best player
Anderson - Gold Coast's only nominated player for the All-Australian 44-man squad - will easily win the club's best and fairest, averaging 27 disposals and six clearances a game.
The 22-year-old has the ability to take his game to the next level under Hardwick, and the hope is that the other talented midfielders like Rowell and Flanders can follow suit.
Who should Gold Coast target in AFL trade period?
You can expect Hardwick to attempt to add experienced players to the talented Gold Coast list in a bid to elevate the club into finals.
Dustin Martin has been mentioned as a potential target but it's not clear whether he is a chance to leave Richmond to join his former coach Hardwick.
Expect the Suns to maneuver their draft picks in order to be a chance to select their academy tall Jed Walter, who is rated as one of the best prospects behind likely no.1 pick Harley Reid.
