The appointment of Stuart Dew as the new head coach of the Gold Coast Suns further extends the Hawthorn influence amongst AFL coaching ranks. 

Dew played 26 games in two seasons at the Hawks and was a pivotal member of the 2008 premiership side.

He joins a fleet of seven other current senior coaches around the league, who have links to the brown and gold.

This group includes the past two premiership coaches, Richmond’s Damien Hardwick and the Western Bulldogs' Luke Beveridge. 

Hardwick was a Hawthorn assistant coach for five years between 2005 and 2009, while Beveridge served three years as an assistant before accepting the Dogs’ job ahead of the 2015 season.

Other members of this group include Brisbane’s Chris Fagan (former Hawthorn GM-Football Operations), Carlton’s Brendan Bolton, GWS’ Leon Cameron and West Coast’s Adam Simpson (all former Hawthorn assistant coaches). 

Fagan is regarded as being one of the most influential figures at Hawthorn throughout his nine years at the club, while Bolton (five years), Simpson (four), and Cameron (three) also spent considerable time throughout the Hawks’ run of premiership success.

Dew’s employment sees a Hawthorn-related coach having been promoted to a top job for each year over the past five, with Simpson and Cameron in 2014, Beveridge in 2015, Bolton in 2016 and Fagan in 2017.

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