New Gold Coast recruit John Noble officially joined the club as part of a mega three-club, five-player trade between the Suns, Collingwood and Port Adelaide.
Noble's wish to join Damien Hardwick's team in Queensland was granted on Tuesday despite being contracted at the AIA Centre for another two years.
The 27-year-old made his desire to move late in August and admits the heartbreak of missing out on premiership glory in 2023 was central to the reason.
Since being taken in the 2019 mid-season draft, Noble played 112 out of 129 games, including all home-and-away games last year, before missing out on the September triumph.
"It was a tough time (last year's finals series), to be honest, and I probably would be lying if I didn't say I was in that mindset at the time," Noble told AFL Trade Radio.
"I think when something like that happens, it does maybe pull you back a little bit and makes you question where your future lies.
"For me, I've said before, I felt like I contributed a heavy amount to that success, and I certainly felt the love from my teammates, but moving forward, there is an element of doubt that can be painted in the back of your head and over time that can develop and that happened at times during this season.
"As interest grows, it is a hard space to live in, to be honest, and it was a really tough time. As a young kid, you dream of playing AFL, but also an AFL Grand Final. That's what you dream of.
"To fall short of that on a personal level was really tough, to be honest, and it certainly can plant that doubt and heading into 2024, I trained really hard and tried to put myself in the best position I could to get back this year and that at times didn't go my way or the way I thought it was going to, hence why it did contribute to my decision."
Noble was able to regain his position across defence in 2024 and was a significant contributor in the black and white, albeit to no success, as the Pies narrowly missed out on the finals.
The Suns' targeted acquisition of the 27-year-old was to create more dare and overlap across halfback, with Hardwick implementing a similar brand to that during Richmond's dynasty that he led.
