ROCKET FOR WAYWARD SUNS: WE HAVE WORK TO DO
NINE months ago Rodney Eade was offered a job he described as the only one that could have lured him back into the world of AFL coaching. Two wins from 13 games is hardly what the Gold Coast Suns planned but Eade tells JON ANDERSON that he remains comfortable with the direction the club is taking.
JA: When you took the role last year you commented it was the one job that could have tempted you back into coaching. Your thoughts now? RE: The club was open with areas that needed to be addressed and fixed but we obviously weren’t prepared for the massive injury rate. If we had everyone available we could have addressed some of those issues behind closed doors. ‘‘Gaz’’ (Gary Ablett) and (Jaeger) O’Meara out are two key players. JA: Plus the off-field issues. RE: Yes, there was a bit more work to be done than I thought, put it that way. But we are making some ground. JA: Particularly in cultural areas? RE: Yes, and the leadership. We only have five players above 25 years of age. The older players including Gary (Ablett) have really improved their leadership but the cultural stuff as well has been a focus. When we talk culture we tend to think of the social activities but it’s more about their commitment to be a professional footballer. Alcohol and other things are just part of that. We have been very strong on that and there has been a buy-in so we think we’ve made ground. JA: Were you surprised at what you found in the cultural and social areas? RE: Yes I was. I was alerted to it because it was part of the review last year so the club never tried to hide that. I found in some areas they were well advanced but in others they were well behind. The commitment to be an AFL player is very big nowadays, more than it was 10 years ago. You don’t want to give anyone an edge on you by not being totally professional. JA: Were your players aware of that? RE: No, in fact a few saw football as an inconvenience to their life where it has to be the other way, be committed or don’t play. A group of players have come and seen me and said they agree with where we are going and some of those guys are really good friends with some of the recalcitrants. Out of the review last year the player group said they wanted strong hard consistent coaching. JA: Does your list run deep enough? RE: Not when you have 10 of your best 22 out. But what that negative has done is we’ve found some more players so by the start of next year we could have that 30-32 players you need. JA: With a stockpiled first round pick you should have three selections inside the top 21 or 22. Trade or purely draft the youth? RE: You would probably like to get a mature player or two. And there are usually trades anyway so it doesn’t necessarily mean we will trade picks. JA: Are Harley Bennell and Charlie Dixon possible trades? RE: Harley has been contrite and realises it is a bigger picture than his name being in the paper but obviously he has to cope with that but it affects the club, and sponsors and his teammates. His mental state and welfare is the No.1 issue. He will come back through the reserves next week at this stage. As for next year, if he commits to the group then he is very much a required player. JA: Charlie Dixon? RE: We want him to stay and we are confident he wants to stay. But if there is a ridiculous amount of money obviously he would be silly not to consider it. JA: Ablett seemed a different player last week than Rds 1-2. RE: Mentally people were critical about why he wasn’t playing but Gary wanted to be fully confident in his body and obviously he was vindicated. His first half was a bit rusty as you would imagine. But his second half was terrific and his leadership was terrific. JA: You can’t be judged as a coach this year due to injury and other factors but next year the pressure will be right on. Are you confident you can improve significantly? RE: Yes. But first of all you have to set up a foundation of behaviours, standards, leadership, like Hawthorn under Alastair Clarkson. We certainly have some talent but we need to coach it the right way and then for them to buy in. If we have a reasonable run with injury I’m confident we could push up the ladder fairly quickly.