2023 Gold Coast Suns season

The 2023 Gold Coast Suns season was Gold Coast's 13th season competing in the Australian Football League (AFL) and 15th overall. The club also fielded a women's side that competed in the AFLW's 8th season, an AFL reserves team in the Victorian Football League (VFL), and Academy teams in the Talent League Boys and Talent League Girls competitions.

Season summary
The 2023 season was Gold Coast's sixth season being coached by Stuart Dew. The season would also be Dew's last season as coach of the Suns. He coached his last game for Gold Coast in round 17. For the second season Jarrod Witts & Touk Miller captained the Suns. The 2023 AFL season would also be the first and last season of the home ground being named Heritage Bank Stadium.

Gold Coast had a slow start to the season losing four of their first five matches. The Suns then won five of their next seven matches to make the win-loss record 6-6 and putting them 11th on the ladder.

Gold Coast played four more matches with Stuart Dew as their coach until he was sacked. The only game they won out of their last four matches with Dew was a 67-point win against Hawthorn at Heritage Bank Stadium. Gold Coast's hired former Geelong & St Kilda player Steven King to act as their Caretaker Coach for the rest of the 2023 season. The Suns won two of their last six matches of the season finishing 15th place with a win-loss record of 9 wins and 14 losses.

Pre-season
In an unofficial match simulation, Gold Coast were defeated by Essendon by five points at Austworld Centre Oval. The match simulation was played with six quarters that lasted 25 minutes each. GWS defeated Gold Coast in the official AFL practice match by 44 points. The game was played at Manuka Oval.

Coaching staff
Stuart Dew coached his sixth season for Gold Coast in 2023. Dew coached the Suns for the first 17 games of the season. After Dew was sacked by the club, Gold Coast hired Steven King to coach the Suns for the last 7 games of the season.

On 21 August 2023, Damien Hardwick (who had resigned as coach on 22 May 2023) was announced as the senior coach of the Gold Coast Suns on a six-year contract, starting from the 2024 season.

Club Awards
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 * Club Champion: Noah Anderson
 * Player's Player: Matt Rowell
 * Heritage Bank Emerging Player: Sam Flanders
 * HOSTPLUS Most Professional: Levi Casboult
 * Life Membership: Sam Day & Rory Thompson
 * Jarrod Harbrow Community Award: Brodie McLaughlin
 * SIXT Leading Goalkicker: Ben King
 * Academy Players of the Year: Jed Walter

League Awards
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 * 22 Under 22 team: Noah Anderson

Season summary
The 2023 VFL season was Gold Coast's first season being coached by former Brisbane Lions player Josh Drummond. The Sun's were captained by James Tsitas. Gold Coast had their best season in the VFL in 2023. The Suns only lost two games throughout the entire year.

Gold Coast won their first eight games of the season with an average margin of 38. The first game the club lost was in round nine against Werribee by two points. The Suns then won their next four games with an average margin of 78 points. In round 15, 17th placed Essendon defeated Gold Coast by a single point at Windy Hill. Gold Coast then won their last four games of the season finishing at first place at the end of the home & away season.

Gold Coast defeated Brisbane in the qualifying final by 43 points to put them in the preliminary final. In the preliminary final the Suns defeated the Box Hill Hawks by 15 points to place them in their first ever VFL grand final. Gold Coast defeated the Werribee Tigers by 19 points to become the 2023 VFL premiers for the first time.

Statistics
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Season Summary
Cameron Joyce coached his third season at Gold Coast and Tara Bohanna was their captain for her second consecutive season.

The Sun's lost their first match of the season against Carlton by only two points but were able to win their next three matches. Gold Coast won two of their next three matches and then drew against Port Adelaide at Alberton Oval in round eight. The Suns won their next two matches and then ended the season with a loss against eighth place Sydney.

Pre Season
Gold Coast were defeated by Sydney in a match simulation at Heritage Bank Stadium. Cameron Joyce kicked five of the last six goals of the game. In an official practice match the Suns versed Brisbane at Brighton Homes Arena.