Rocket rolled - Suns no longer feel the need for Eade

The Gold Coast Suns and senior coach Rodney Eade have parted ways effective immediately after Eade was informed he would not have his contract extended into 2018 and beyond.

Eade was given the option of deciding whether or not he wished to coach the Suns for the remaining three games of the season, and elected not to do so.

Eade’s initial three-year contract to become the second coach of the Gold Coast Suns replacing Guy McKenna at the end of 2014 was due to expire this year.

Given the almost total lack of on-field success during his tenure, it comes as no surprise that Gold Coast have decided to seek a new coach.

(AAP Image/Dave Hunt)

The situation comes in stark contrast however to the time that was when Eade first joined the club, and the football world was optimistic about the fortunes of the Gold Coast Suns.

In 2014 the Suns looked set to make finals until a freak shoulder injury cost Gary Ablett junior the rest of his season and led to a significant form downturn.

The Suns fell short of a maiden finals campaign, and senior coach Guy McKenna was sacked at the end of the year, even though he was contracted for 2015.

At the time the move confused many who felt that McKenna had done a fine job and probably would have played finals if not for a bad twist of fate.

But the Suns’ management appeared set on the desire to have an experienced coach lead the team to the top, and they reportedly already had a man picked out: Mark Thompson.

Thompson at that time had just coached Essendon to a finals series while filling an interim role to cover for the suspended James Hird, and speculation was rife that he would join the Suns as their new senior coach.

Then, suddenly, the story went cold – Thompson retired from coaching, and Gold Coast were left holding the bag, having sacked their coach but without a clear idea of who the next one would be.

They ultimately went down a similar path, poaching an experienced man in Rodney Eade away from Collingwood, where he been working in the director of coaching position that was made for and then turned down by Mick Malthouse.

Eade perfectly fit the bill of the ‘experienced’ AFL coach, having led the Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs through a combined 314 AFL games, taking the Swans to a losing Grand Final in 1996 and the Bullogs to three preliminary finals in 2008-10.

At the time Eade was praised as perhaps the luckiest bloke in football – given control of list bursting with upcoming talent that put him in prime position to finally achieve his dream of coaching an AFL premiership. It wasn’t to be.

In a match that would set the tone for Eade’s time at Gold Coast, the Suns went in as heavy favourites in Round 1, 2015 to defeat the Melbourne Demons.

Instead, they flopped – Gary Ablett was still clearly hampered by his shoulder injury, the rest of the team underperformed, and they fell short by 26 points.

(AAP Image/Jason O’Brien)

Fast forward to the end of Round 13 and Ablett had played only one more game, and the Suns only had a single victory to their name stacked up against 11 losses.

A growing injury crisis was in part to blame, but there also seemed to be a culture of poor behaviour off the field that was preventing the Suns from getting results.

In the end, these were problems that would never really go away from the Suns under Eade’s tenure, and they were also hit hard by the departure of young talent as time went on.

Harley Bennell was forced out at the end of 2015 and Charlie Dixon sought a trade out of the club, and then in 2016 the Suns lost Dion Prestia and Jaeger O’Meara (who never played a game under Eade).

Injuries continued to be a constant source of frustration, in particular for Gary Ablett who even now in 2017 is often a week-to-week proposition as to whether or not he’ll be available.

Ultimately, the Suns never became competitive under Eade, and while he has faced many challenges that were not of his own making, it’s debatable whether they ever could have been, even in a perfect world.

(AAP Image/Julian Smith)

Now that the Suns have made their decision on Eade, they must turn to finding the right person to take them forward, and that starts with working out what kind of person that is.

There are generally two options – either pick someone safe and experienced to bring stability to the club, or gamble on someone young and untried to find the next great AFL coach.

Both methods can have success. Look at how Paul Roos’ tenure pulled Melbourne up out of the muck, or on the other hand, look at the incredible success achieved by Luke Beveridge.

Of course, both can also be wretchedly unsuccessful. Mick Malthouse at Carlton. Mark Neeld at Melbourne, Scott Watters at St Kilda.

During his tenure at Gold Coast, Eade was the oldest senior coach in the AFL by a margin of several years, so it wouldn’t surprise if Gold Coast look to change tact and bring in someone young.

The other factor that suggests they might go that way is the lack of any obvious choice of experienced coach to target as a potential recruit.

That said, it’d be worth noting that when going through the process of recruiting Eade three years ago, the Suns made inquiries to Brad Scott, and there has been significant innuendo about other clubs looking at him again this year – so perhaps watch this space.

(AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)

The new coach will have some big items on their to-do list from the first day.

They’ll no doubt play a big role in deciding what to do with Gary Ablett – let him go to Geelong? Force him to play out 2018 at Gold Coast?

But the Suns’ largest project over the next 12 months will be securing for the long term the signature of co-captain Tom Lynch, who will be a restricted free agent at the end of 2018.

The good news for whoever takes over the job is that they will have the benefit of the Suns’ new cutting-edge training base, unlike McKenna and Eade who both began their tenures in subpar facilities.

Gold Coast’s list still has plenty of young talent and potential, giving whoever takes over the club the chance to build a truly successful side, if they can get things right.

The hard work is only just beginning at Gold Coast, but perhaps when it comes to picking a new senior coach it’ll be a case of third time lucky.