‘I’ll smash them in court’: Suns boss warns draftees who won’t play on the coast
Related Story: Tom Lynch tells Gold Coast he's leaving, Suns take away AFL captaincy Related Story: AFL's Gold Coast and Tasmania dilemmas could have been avoided by looking south first
The Gold Coast Suns chief executive Mark Evans has fired back at rumours that new recruits are rejecting a move to the Sunshine state.
Speaking on ABC Grandstand, Mr Evans responded to claims made by former premiership winning coach Mick Malthouse that players are telling their managers that they do not want to join the Suns.
He said the claims are not true and those making them should put their money where their mouth is.
"We've had some of the top draft picks come through our facility in the last month and I've never had one of them say that they wouldn't come to the Gold Coast," Mr Evans said.
"If there are people out there, managers who are prepared to get up on radio and say, 'don't go to the Gold Coast,' we'll have them in court.
"I'll smash them in court."
Tom Lynch's departure
It has been a busy week for the Suns after captain Tom Lynch put to bed months of speculation about his future, confirming he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
Lynch was stripped of the club captaincy after announcing he will be returning to Melbourne, with Richmond, Collingwood and Hawthorn among the club's battling to secure his services.
Mr Evans said the announcement is not a surprise, but it is part of a growing trend of players abandoning struggling clubs for a shot at glory.
"We had an indication that Tom was going that way so, for us it was more the way it was playing out and that got addressed this week," he said.
"What the code needs to look at is how to make sure the player movement plays out in an equitable fashion.
"At the moment you've got top flight players who are looking to leave their clubs who are lower on the ladder to join team that have already had premiership success.
"There has to be some compensation to allow teams to get off the bottom of the ladder. We don't want to create a two-speed system in the AFL."
External Link: Mark Evans speaks on Grandstand
The future of the club
The Gold Coast had a strong start to the 2018 AFL season with back-to-back wins, but things quickly turned from bad to worse for the Queensland club, managing just one win in its next 14 outings.
The Suns have shown glimpses of the skill and quality that the young squad is capable of, most recently in last week's historic 24-point win over the Swans at the SCG.
But a loss to cellar-dwellers Carlton at home the following week is a result that's become typical of the Suns hot-cold season.
The Gold Coast boss says the expansion club has not been able to kick on since its promising 2014 season.
"In 2014 when Gold Coast beat Collingwood in a stunning victory and it looked like the side is set for a good period," he said.
"But it hasn't worked, what we've done is graduating our guys who are three or four years in the system, graduating them a bit further to where they're now half way through their careers and their asking "is this going to work in our time?"
But despite the stagnation, he is confident the future is bright for the Suns and the game in Queensland.
"Two weeks ago, we played Sydney in one of the best wins in the club's history, today's team has eleven guys under the age of 21. I sit there and think I've got to be excited about that, I'm not worried about that at all," he said.
"Community football is going really well in Queensland.
"If I was to say there were more participants in Queensland than there are in South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania combined, you'd laugh at me, but that's true."
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