MIDFIELDER Lachie Weller says the appointment of coach Stuart Dew was the driving force behind his move to play for Gold Coast.
Weller finished school and played club football on the Gold Coast before being drafted by Fremantle in 2014.
The 21-year-old has always wanted to play AFL in the city he considers home, but he admitted that desire had been tempered by the club's "unsteady" state.
Dew's appointment and their subsequent conversations erased those concerns and led to a last-minute request for a trade.
10 things we learned from Trade Period
"I think, if I got my visual board out now, it has it on there, that I always wanted to come back," Weller told AAP.
"I think the club's been a little bit unsteady and I didn't really plan on coming back now, but the appointment of Stuey and Mark's (CEO Mark Evans) pretty new ... I had dinner with them and got a good feeling."
Shocked to be standing in the Suns' AFL headquarters on Friday after the deal snuck inside the trade deadline on Thursday, Weller is hopeful of building a long-term partnership with co-captains Tom Lynch and Steven May.
"I've caught up with Tom a few times; he and Stevie lead really well," Weller, who played 47 games for the Dockers, said.
"There's a lot of talk about Tom (leaving) but hopefully I can pass him the ball and do my bit to help him to stay."
Golden age of free agency looms in 2018
He admits his desire to head to the struggling club is a unique one, but is confident that success on the Gold Coast will convince others to join him.
"I can't throw anyone under the bus, but there has been (lots of interest in his move), definitely, a lot of teammates were good about it," Weller said.
"You never know; time will tell."
The Suns gave up their No.2 pick in the upcoming draft for Weller and pick 41, with Fremantle not budging on their request despite several counter offers from Gold Coast.
Dew insists he is happy with the deal, given his demand for ready-made players in his first season at the helm and the club's acquisition of West Coast's future first round pick.
"We didn't get pushed around at all," the coach said.
"The key objective was to get Lachie here and moving second-rounders into a future first(-round pick) was a key piece in the Lachie one, so we were rapt.
"This was not a deal in isolation - across three years we'll have seven first-rounders and Lachie, who was a first rounder - you'd be negligent to look at it as a pure deal for (pick) two."
Dew expects Weller to play across a range of positions next season.
