Jon Haines has informed the club he will depart his role as General Manager - Football Operations at the conclusion of the 2021 season.

Haines joined the club at the end of the 2017 season and since joining the SUNS has led a reset of the club’s football programs and helped establish a culture where players and staff have buy-in to the club’s plans.

After four seasons Haines will head back to Western Australia with his family to explore new opportunities.

“My family and I have been privileged to have the opportunity to play a role in the build of the Gold Coast SUNS. The culture, the program and the list are in outstanding shape and the football program now has strong foundations from which to move into its next phase,” Haines said.

“The players and staff at the SUNS are its biggest strength and greatest competitive advantage. The quality of people and their depth of connection is as good as I have experienced. The football program is incredibly well led across each discipline and I’m proud of how the culture has developed and the people involved in establishing it.

“We are all simply custodians of our football club for a period of time. Our time with the SUNS is over in a formal sense, but we will always be SUNS people and will watch with pride as the club continues to grow over the coming years.”

Gold Coast SUNS Chief Executive Mark Evans thanked Haines for his work in re-shaping and leading the club’s football programs in recent years.

“Since arriving on the Gold Coast, Jon has worked tirelessly to reset the football department, to bring about stability and to establish a high-performance environment that provides development opportunities for players and staff,” Evans said.

“The football department has a clear path forward thanks to all that Jon has implemented and I’d like to personally acknowledge and thank him for his efforts in laying the foundations for a successful program.

“Jon’s work ethic and leadership has been instrumental in steering the football department through the Covid-interrupted seasons in 2020 and 2021.

“We wish Jon, Janelle, Alby and Charlie, all the best for what lies ahead on their return to Western Australia and express our gratitude for their contributions to the Gold Coast SUNS.”

The club will take this opportunity to review the football department structure. Craig Cameron, Head of List and Talent, will assume leadership of the football department in the interim.