Drama behind Eade’s sacking

SACKED Suns coach Rodney Eade’s fate was sealed in a late night meeting at his family home on the Gold Coast.

Details have emerged of how Eade’s departure unfolded as Gold Coast look to pick up the pieces of another disasterous season.

The Suns football department review claimed its first – and biggest – casualty following a swift series of events that began with a phone call from chairman Tony Cochrane.

Cochrane returned from a business trip overseas on the weekend and immediately asked Suns CEO Mark Evans if he was at a stage where he could put forward any review findings to the board.

A snap board meeting was called late on Monday and by the end of it Eade’s axing was confirmed in a unanimous decision after Evans presented his recommendations.

Late that night Evans went to Eade’s home to tell him he was no longer required.

“I called around to see Rodney to let him know his contract wouldn’t be extended,” Evans said.

“He was obviously disappointed, said he didn’t agree with the decision but said he accepted the reality of that.”

Eade decided not to coach the final three games of the season and yesterday morning Evans was in discussions with assistant Dean Solomon to take over for the remaining matches, starting with Brisbane this weekend.

The drama played out swiftly following a long season in which Eade was under pressure from the Round 1 loss to Brisbane. Gold Coast are currently 15th on the AFL ladder with six wins from 19 games.

Cochrane said Eade had made huge inroads in professionalism and culture at the Gold Coast but the decision simply came down to the winloss column. Eade won 16 games and drew one in 63 matches at the club.

“It’s as simple as win and losses. At the start of this year we had a very strong belief around this club that we would challenge for the top eight and we simply have failed,” Cochrane said.

I CALLED AROUND TO SEE RODNEY TO LET HIM KNOW ... MARK EVANS

More departures are expected over the coming weeks as the review is finalised but Evans would not reveal if Eade’s departure could trigger wholesale changes.

“There are a number of improvements we still need to make within our program and structures,” Evans said.

“But today’s announcement is about the coaching element of that.”

The Suns board is due for another meeting in a fortnight but could be called in to make more decisions on the review sooner.