First-year SUNS coach Stuart Dew doesn’t have to look far for proof success isn’t far away.

In fact, he only has to look as far as 70-odd kilometres up the Pacific Highway.

Success comes in many forms, and despite the fact the Brisbane Lions are equal on four wins with the SUNS, their off-field culture and environment is earning praise in 2018.

It’s the same result Dew craves for the SUNS, and he’s taken solace from his long-time friend and the man behind the Lions’ resurgence, Chris Fagan.

“You can learn a lot from Fages as an individual,” Dew told the media in a joint press conference on Wednesday.

“What I can take from Chris in my dealings previously but also speaking to him at different times, is creating that right environment so that the feel of the club is a positive one.

“They’re 12 months advanced from where we are in terms of embedding that environment so we’re certainly working on the foundation of that.”

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Dew has known Fagan since their days at Hawthorn together in 2008.

They went on to win a flag together in that year, and Dew says Fagan’s path at the Lions gives him confidence the SUNS can mirror that same formula and one day win a premiership of their own.

“It’s really hard to judge clubs from the outside, but when you know different personnel within the clubs I think you know what they’re about and what their philosophies are,” Dew said.

“When you’re hearing some key words that you have the same belief around I think that gives you a bit of hope.

“But also things like the Bulldogs going from where they went to winning, Richmond 13^th to winning – that gives you hope as well, as a competition and as teams and that’s certainly important for the AFL community.”

Fagan was full of praise for his Gold Coast counterpart, backing Dew to lead the SUNS up the ladder in the coming years.

“Stuey would have learnt a lot in his first year, I know I learnt an enormous amount,” Fagan said.

“And he’s right, the thing that you try to set up to begin with is the culture in the club - how your players feel like coming to work each day.

“I’m sure both Queensland clubs are going to do well into the future, you just have to be a bit patient for the time being.” 

But the pleasantries will be put on hold on Saturday when the two teams do battle at Metricon Stadium for QClash16. 

The rivalry between the two sides has taken root quickly and Dew says his side will be itching to notch their first win in front of a home crowd this year. 

“We won’t be defined by our last two games but ideally we don’t want a flat end to the season,” Dew said.

“Obviously (we’ve had) a different start to the season, but we’d love to win in front of our fans.”