Former Gold Coast defender Campbell Brown fears the Suns will be shut down by the AFL within the next decade if they don't start to get on-field results.
The 205-game veteran and 2008 Hawthorn premiership player, notched 46 matches for the Suns from 2011 to 2013.
The club is yet to play finals seven years into its AFL existence and appointed its third senior coach, former Sydney assistant Stuart Dew, in October.
Brown warns the consequences will be dire if Dew can't deliver.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't in the AFL in 10 years if they don't get this next era right," Brown told SEN on Tuesday.
"The AFL just can't keep pumping tens of millions of dollars into a club that's seemingly going nowhere at the moment."
Competition powerhouse Greater Western Sydney entered the AFL in 2012 and have already appeared in two finals series.
Brown was sacked by Gold Coast following an off-season altercation with teammate Steven May, who suffered a broken jaw.
He qualified his comments by adding he feels the Suns are in a good place in terms of key off-field appointments.
"They've got a really good, strong president in (Tony) Cochrane, who I love because he reminds me of Jeff Kennett," Brown said.
"He demands success, he keeps everyone accountable and that's what you need.
"Mark Evans as the CEO is superb. Stuart Dew is an unknown but it's a fresh start and if he is a good coach, they have a really good spine of being a successful club."
Brown said the Suns must do everything in their power to ensure co-captain Tom Lynch, who is a free agent at the end of 2018, signs long-term.
Dew oversaw his first pre-season training session on Monday when the club's first-to-fourth year players returned from annual leave.
The rookie coach faces a brutal initiation with Metricon Stadium unavailable for the first 10 weeks of the season due to the Commonwealth Games and a torrid schedule that includes matches in Shanghai, Cairns, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Ballarat before their first home game.
