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Ex-Suns chief: I’ll be “village idiot” if Anderson leaves
Andrew Slevison • July 29th, 2026 3:30 pm
Player retention has often been a problem for the Gold Coast Suns.
It felt like they had been overcoming that hurdle in recent years until it was reported that Ben King could up and leave at season’s end.
Things have not gone to plan in Damien Hardwick’s third year at the helm with the Suns in disarray after nine straight defeats.
Keeping their star players is again a topic of conversation on the back of that form with some suggestions captain Noah Anderson could consider his Suns future beyond 2027.
Tony Cochrane was president at the Suns when co-captains Tom Lynch and Steven May departed for Richmond and Melbourne respectively.
Does he fear that something similar could happen once again?
He batted away any talk that Anderson, who has been skipper since the start of last year, would jump ship now that things are tough.
“I’m not on the inside, so I’m just a mug supporter in the grandstands making observations,” Cochrane said on SEN’s Whateley.
“Like all clubs I think they’ll have a turnover of players at the end of this year.
“There was a piece in the last 24 hours about Noah Anderson having to contemplate his future. I don’t have any fear.”
Cochrane admits he will truly look like the village idiot if Anderson were to depart.
“Noah Anderson is made of really good quality stuff. He’s an outstanding individual, forget the fact that he happens to be a great footballer as well,” he continued.
“But he is an outstanding individual with great parents, great attitude to life.
“I don’t think Noah will step away one inch from having a go and staying the distance. If that happens (Anderson leaving) I truly will be the village idiot.”
Cochrane insists it’s not unique for a club to experience what the Suns have this year after winning their first final just 10 months ago.
He says the challenge is laid out for them to look inward, recoil and prove themselves once again.
“Lots of clubs have been in this after having some success one year, then they drop off for a whole variety of reasons,” he added.
“But again you’ve got to keep swinging. Sport is brutal. It’s not one path this way, tick the boxes, and you’re all good.
“It’s a brutal, brutal business. Professional sport in particular. Everybody is earning lots of money, there’s lots of money swimming around in the tank.
“You’ve got to find a way to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, have the big review, and that’s got to include everybody. Really go through line by line, look at the assistants, the staff, the playing group.
“Everybody is in that if you’re going to be fair dinkum about it. You need some really good eyes on it.”
As for the notion that professional sporting clubs on the Gold Coast will always fail, Cochrane could not be more dismissive of those claims.
“That’s a load of s--t,” said the outspoken former Suns chairman.
“The truth of the matter is the Gold Coast is a rapidly emerging city. If I go back even 10 years ago there were barely 420,000 people. By the time the Olympics hits it’s going to be 930,000 people.
“It’s a fair dinkum city. So what’s happened is there’s been lots of layers built up across the Gold Coast community. The Gold Coast is challenging because of the great lifestyle, it makes it hard to focus on anything whether it be sport or running a business.
“Ultimately, a club or a couple of clubs are going to be successful on the Gold Coast. We’re only debating time. People who say you can never make it work on the Gold Coast, that to me is the mating cry of a loser.
“People that throw that up as an argument are devoid of argument.”
Listen to the full chat with the Chief Pot Stirrer below:
