GOLD Coast coach Stuart Dew has spoken of his disappointment in Izak Rankine wanting out of the Suns.
For much of the past season Dew has been staunch in his support of Rankine when his form was questioned early in the year, and confident he would remain at the club.
However, upon the Suns finishing their campaign, the 22-year-old requested a trade to Adelaide, opting to return to his home state and accept a lucrative offer from the Crows.
Speaking to AFL.com.au Dew said there was certainly no bad blood between Rankine and the Suns, but it still did not sit well with them.
"Yeah, we are disappointed," Dew said.
"It comes from the fact we've spent a fair bit of time with Izak, we feel like we've got to know him, have a great little system around him and thought he was going to add to our footy club going forward.
"There's some disappointment there, there's some understanding as to why, and it's certainly not on bad terms."
Rankine has remained on the Gold Coast since the Suns' season finished, attending their best and fairest night on August 25 and then spectating at the club's VFL preliminary final at Southport on Sunday.
Dew did not want to speculate on what type of package the Suns would need to get from Adelaide to facilitate the trade, but said his job was to "move forward with the guys we've got and who we think will be here".
"It's up to the two footy clubs to get the best outcome for both," he said.
"Sometimes these things get done quickly and sometimes they take a little bit longer."
Gold Coast has a handful of players still out of contract that the club will speak to about their futures in the coming week or two.
One player with a year to run on his existing deal is Brayden Fiorini.
The inside midfielder played 14 games this season but has largely been on the fringe of Dew's best 22 for the past three seasons, and the coach conceded if Fiorini got an offer from elsewhere too good to refuse, they would discuss it with him.
"Brayden is our best team man of all-time," Dew said.
"We've had good conversations with Brayden that he is in contract.
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"If he came to us and said: 'I've got this amazing opportunity' well that's a conversation we'd have.
"If Brayden Fiorini is at our footy club, we're a better footy club.
"If someone is guaranteeing him he's going to play, then I'm sure he would feel comfortable coming to us to talk and we'd certainly be comfortable to listen.
"I can't emphasise enough how amazing he's been in the last three years given he hasn't quite been best 22, but he has played footy based on the way he trains, behaves and understands what we're after."
