Gold Coast have denied claims the AFL installed Mark Evans as their new chief executive in a bid to improve the club's management.
Evans, who has served as the AFL's football operations boss for the past three years, was named on Tuesday as the new Gold Coast chief.
He replaces Andrew Travis, whose departure after two seasons at the helm of the Suns was confirmed just 24 hours earlier.
The expansion club, which remains reliant on AFL funding, has struggled on and off the field, and Evans' appointment at Gold Coast has been viewed in some quarters as a response to the AFL's concerns about the Suns' performance.
But Gold Coast chairman Tony Cochrane emphatically denied that suggestion, saying the Suns had "lobbied the hell" out of the AFL to secure the highly-respected Evans.
"To suggest they rung us up and planted Mark here is an absolute lie," Cochrane said.
"The truth of the matter is we pushed really hard to get somebody of Mark's credentials."
Cochrane also denied that Travis had been pushed from the club, saying the former chief had sought a break from footy.
A former Hawthorn executive and football boss, Evans had been in discussions with the Hawks about filling their vacant chief executive post but chose not to apply after being approached by Gold Coast.
As football operations boss, Evans was one of AFL supremo Gillon McLachlan's key lieutenants and oversaw areas including the rules of the game, umpiring, the national draft and the AFL's illicit drugs policy.
His accomplishments included spearheading the development of football academies across the country while also overhauling the AFL tribunal process to encourage more fines than suspensions.
He arrives at Gold Coast with plenty of work needed to improve their performance on and off the field.
Many of their best players have departed, former coach Guy McKenna was sacked and in six seasons, the Suns have never finished better than 12th on the ladder despite being gifted a wealth of priority draft picks.
Evans has stepped down from the AFL effective immediately and will begin his new role on March 6.
"It was a compelling offer by the club that was impossible to resist," he said in a statement.
"This is a young team and a young business with a great stadium, and fantastic new training and administration base, and incredible growth potential."
Evans is tipped to be replaced by AFL game development boss Simon Lethlean, who has won plaudits for overseeing the successful launch of the AFL Women's competition.
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