'Either way, it was on': Fresh details on Damien Hardwick's bombshell move and how it's panning out two years onNic Negrepontis
Nine
May 29, 2025Two years ago this month, Damien Hardwick quit as Richmond coach, setting in motion the chain of events that would lead to his appointment as Gold Coast coach, and the end of the Tigers' premiership era.
Now, Richmond is at the base of a rebuild with an almost completely different playing group, while Hardwick has the Suns marching towards their first finals appearance ever.
His decision created a cascading butterfly effect that changed the trajectory of both clubs significantly, and a key question is - how much was already in place before his exit?
The bombshell story that dropped on May 21, 2023 that Hardwick was set to depart the club came completely out of nowhere.
It might have been the most shocking single piece of AFL news since the Essendon supplement saga a decade prior.
He'd flirted with comments suggesting he was running out of steam earlier in 2023, but quitting mid-season and citing fatigue, only to take the next available job, was one jaw-dropping storyline.
The story itself was broken by Nine chief AFL reporter Tom Morris while at SEN. The story hit Twitter at 7:12pm on that Monday night and proceeded to send an earthquake through the footballing world.
It also nearly blew up the SEN website, given the sudden 6000 per cent increase in traffic on the site at the drop of the story, while the initial tweet itself would reach 630,000 people.
The shockwaves of the news left the usual Monday night footy programming scrambling. SEN brought Morris into the building where he and other hosts would take talkback on the situation until 10pm.
Fox Footy's On the Couch was interviewing Richmond defender Nathan Broad, of all people, at the time of the breaking news, but they opted not to ask him about it given the story was breaking in real time.
They did ask him whether Hardwick still had an appetite to coach. "Absolutely", he replied. Technically, he was correct.
Broad would later reveal that he actually knew about the situation at the time, showing he had quite the po-ker face. Hardwick had already begun telling players earlier in the day.
The decision came amid a tough start to the 2023 season for the Tigers. They had just suffered their first loss to the Bombers in 13 match-ups and found themselves 14th on the ladder.
The day after Morris' story dropped, the Tigers called a press conference and it all came to fruition.
Hardwick explained that he had run out of ways to 'cook the sausage' (coach the playing group), and that he needed a break, and that was that. The three-time premiership coach was out the door and off to enjoy a European holiday.
It would be there, in the Italian riviera and Cinque Terre where he would meet up with Gold Coast chief Mark Evans, and his return to the game began to come together. The regenerative powers of a European summer had clearly recharged his batteries.
The fall guy in all of this was Stuart Dew, who was sacked as coach of the Suns on July 10, clearing the path for Hardwick to take the reins.
Dew had clearly made strides with a young Gold Coast squad, but still couldn't quite bring them into the top eight.
However, as Morris points out, Dew would've needed a miracle to survive 2024, with larger machinations at work.
"I'm convinced Hardwick knew Gold Coast was a very real possibility, at the very least before he quit Richmond, and at the most, that it was a sure thing," Morris told WWOS.
"Either way, it was on. I know this because I know how I got the story in the first place."
Evans wanted Hardwick, and got his man. On August 2, less than a month after sacking Dew, it was first reported that the Richmond premiership coach was close to locked in.
Three weeks later, it was officially announced and he was unveiled in a red and yellow polo.
Suddenly, his fire to coach was back and there were new snags on the barbecue for him to sizzle.
The fascinating 'what if' in all of this is where the Suns would be right now if Dew was still at the helm. It's a bit of a chicken or the egg scenario. Has a young core of talented players matured into what they were always going to become, or was it Hardwick's touch that brought it all together?
The new coach would immediately bring in former Tiger Shaun Grigg as an assistant coach, as he would begin to imprint the Suns with his Richmond ways.
The Tigers meanwhile settled on Adem Yze as their man exactly a month after the Suns made their coaching appointment.
2024 would be a frustrating debut season for Hardwick, who bullishly declared that 80 per cent of the Suns' first premiership list was already in the room with him.
While they looked the goods at home, they went winless on the road until round 22 (winning at Dimma's favourite venue, Marvel Stadium) and ultimately finished 13th with 11 wins.
Richmond meanwhile was left picking up the pieces of the sudden directional shift, winning two games and the wooden spoon.
Speculation ran wild that Tigers premiership hero Dustin Martin would join Hardwick on the Gold Coast for the 2025 season, with Melbourne great David Schwarz going so far as to say the reunion was certain.
It wasn't to be, however, though discussions certainly took place between the two parties.
The Suns did lure one Richmond star across, with Daniel Rioli moving in the trade period.
He was one part of a Tiger exodus at the end of 2024, with Rioli, Liam Baker, Shai Bolton and Jack Graham leaving for other clubs, while Martin, Dylan Grimes and Marlion Pickett retired. This resulted in one of the greatest draft hands ever seen and allowed them to flush their list with first-round talent in last year's draft, including no.1 pick Sam Lalor.
The premiership era was over. Hardwick had jettisoned at the perfect moment. Leaping from a fading giant to an upstart venture with all the talent in the world and a need for a leader who had been to the mountaintop.
Gold Coast, despite their failings, had key pieces in place, with star midfield trio Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson and Touk Miller, a veteran ruckman in Jarrod Witts, key defensive pillars in Sam Collins, Mac Andrew and Charlie Ballard, and an emerging key forward star in Ben King.
But that was just the beginning. In the 2023 draft, they took full advantage of the academy rules in place, grabbing four first-round talents in Jed Walter, Ethan Read, Jake Rogers and Will Graham at a significantly discounted price.
The academy gems don't end there however, with the Suns adding another in Leo Lombard in 2024, and are expected to get their hands on another three or four top-end talents in 2025, including potential no.1 pick Zeke Uwland.
Gold Coast knew they needed the final piece of the puzzle, and that came in the form of Hardwick, at the expense of Dew's time in charge.
Now, the Suns are on the march. They sit third on the ladder despite having played one fewer game than the rest of the top eight.
They should ride a dream fixture through to their first finals series and beyond that, with the talent constantly pouring into the club and their maturing young stars, it's hard to put a ceiling on what they could achieve.
Richmond, meanwhile, has fought hard. They have three wins and will likely avoid successive wooden spoons. Yze and his ultra young core have exceeded expectations already. Some thought they might go winless in 2025.
Everything certainly feels like it has gone exactly to plan for Hardwick and the Suns, since his sudden shift in the middle of 2023.
A decision that altered the AFL landscape.
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