SYDNEY coach John Longmire is backing former assistant Stuart Dew's wide skillset to make him a success in Gold Coast's lead role.
The Suns unveiled the ex-Swans assistant on Thursday as the third senior coach in their seven-year history, behind Guy McKenna and Rodney Eade, who was sacked in August.
Dew won premierships with Port Adelaide (2004) and Hawthorn (2008) as a player, and served as an assistant under Paul Roos and Longmire at Sydney since 2010, including the 2012 flag.
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The 38-year-old, who played 206 games, declined the chance to be Roos' successor at Melbourne and chose not to apply for the Brisbane Lions' job last year.
But he now has one of the AFL's toughest gigs to transform a club that has never played finals and is fresh from a six-win campaign.
Dew informed Longmire on Wednesday night of his appointment after leaving a Gold Coast board meeting.
"He had a really excited tone to his voice, as you'd imagine, and I couldn't be happier for him," Longmire told AFL.com.au.
"I'm just really pleased he gets his shot at a senior coaching job, and I think the Gold Coast is a good fit for him.
"I don't know whether you ever know (if you are ready) – either yourself or other people … it's a combination of opportunities and feeling confident enough that you've done enough in your preparation.
"He's certainly worked at his coaching craft for a long period of time and had a number of varied roles and been exposed to a number of different things outside of coaching as well."
Longmire hailed Dew's knowledge and understanding of the game as his senior assistant, as well as his ability to form strong bonds with players.
"Your relationships can be a little bit different between an assistant coach and a senior coach, just because of the nature of the role," Longmire said.
"You have to make some pretty tough decisions as a senior coach that you may not necessarily have to make consistently as an assistant coach.
"So those relationships naturally evolve in your experience as a coach, particularly when you go from an assistant to a senior coach, but he's smart, he understands people and he's got a good ability to relate to different people."
Longmire said it was hard as an outsider to know the challenges Dew was set to face at the Suns, but was confident his experiences at the Swans would hold him in good stead.
A lesser-known Dew quality could be his trump card.
"He understands football, and understands in great detail, but he's also got a great feel for when to lighten things up as well," Longmire said.
"That's always important when you're going through a season and the ups and downs you have … he's always been able to do that, he's always had a good sense of timing."
Sydney's coaching staff will take on a different look next season, with two other Longmire lieutenants, Henry Playfair (St Kilda) and Josh Francou (Adelaide), accepting roles elsewhere.
