Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade says his approach to teaching players has shifted dramatically

RODNEY Eade might be the most combustible man in football. But in order to get through to kids at the Suns, the 58-year-old has changed his approach, dramatically.

What are the changes Rodney Eade has made? Picture: Regi Varghese

RODNEY Eade has cultivated a certain persona over 20 years and 339 games coaching AFL footballers.

If he isn’t the most combustible man in football, he lands somewhere in the top five.

The public see Eade slamming phones and suppressing an urge to explode every week.

So consider his predicament at Gold Coast this year, trying to fast-track a bunch of impatient youngsters while aware he is coaching for his footballing life.

How does the 58-year-old get through to these kids?

As it turns out, by emoji and GIFs.

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Not by the methods that worked with enigmas such as Bulldogs Brian Lake and Will Minson, but with whatever cuts through with “Generation Entitled”.

Eade has been sacked too many times not to know he will be judged by wins and losses this year as he seeks a contract extension.

But the oldest senior coach in the competition says his approach to teaching players has shifted dramatically over the years.

Rodney Eade with his players last year. Picture: Getty Images

In short, Eade has made a transformation that has him coaching as well as at any time in his career.

“I think in the past my strengths were about coaching match-day and my tactics. That has changed a lot,’’ Eade tells the Herald Sun.

“Building relationships with players and coaching better education-wise, I have adapted to that and improved that.

“I have got a daughter who is 19 and a couple of sons in their 20s. You understand what they like and dislike socially.

“I have done a lot of research. We have employed someone to educate coaches on their teaching practices and he has done a lot of work. We have looked at some of the experts in the US.

“They love mobile phones, so they like texting rather than talking.

“They want things now. Their patience is not as durable as it used to be. I am more positive.

“I have turned that around a fair bit. You look at the good and how they can get better, rather than the positives and negatives. You change your language.”

But back to those teen-friendly emojis and GIFs, the comedic two-second social media videos expressing emotions such as joy, anger and despair.

“Yeah, I send the emojis out. GIFs too. You know GIFs, I send the GIFs out. I do all that sort of stuff,” he says with a laugh.

If many believe the Suns rise or fall on Gary Ablett’s form, in truth Eade’s ability to extract the best from his younger players will define the season.

Rodney Eade speaks with Sam Day at Gold Coast training. Picture: Getty Images

That is where his talent base lies, from new co-captains Tom Lynch and Steven May to midfielders Touk Miller and Jack Martin to top-10 draftees Jack Bowes, Ben Ainsworth, Will Brodie and Jack Scrimshaw.

Gold Coast has the stars at either end in forwards Lynch and Peter Wright and defensive duo May and Rory Thompson.

Finally, the Suns seems to have the midfield around those players to give themselves a chance.

Ablett and David Swallow are fit, Michael Barlow, Pearce Hanley and Jarryd Lyons add depth and class and Bowes and Ainsworth look Round 1 propositions on the flanks.

With a midfield badly hit by injury in his first two years, the pressure on Eade is probably in some ways unfair.

But in a cut-throat industry and with chairman Tony Cochrane already declaring this a “make-or-break year”, he knows where he stands.

“You are under pressure every day you go to work. You win three flags and fall down and you are under pressure,’’ Eade says.

“You finish on the bottom, there is pressure. So there is always pressure no matter where you look. I have been through it all before. It is no big drama.”

Has he asked Cochrane what it will take to keep his job, or when that contract will be addressed?

“No, I haven’t at this stage. I am not too worried. It will look after itself at the appropriate time,’’ Eade says. “I think what happens when you are young, and I have lived it in the past, is you get distracted.

“It will look after itself and results will dictate it to a certain degree. You think of 14 or 15 teams who want to play finals, we are one who thinks they can give it a shake.”

Eade has spent the summer explaining the departures of Dion Prestia and Jaeger O’Meara, but says industry perception does not match reality.

“Jarrod Lyons selected us over a couple of clubs, Mick Barlow phoned me before the end of trade week and a couple of clubs were talking to him and he wanted to come to us,’’ he says.

“For all the doom and gloom and negativity about two leaving last year, we had two who wanted to come and everyone wants to stay.”

Michael Barlow had his choice of a number of clubs but went to the Gold Coast. Picture: Getty Images.

May, the only one of six priority signings yet to re-sign, will pen a new deal in the coming weeks and is one of the real success stories at the club.

Famously injured in a 2013 Los Angeles fight that cost teammate Campbell Brown his career, some at the club say May’s antics required just a dose of tough love.

Yet when O’Meara last year told the group he was out, it was May who summoned the players moments later to declare the need for them to unite.

“I think he spoke to the players about that,’’ Eade confirms.

“He’s good friends with Jaeger and it wasn’t a personal thing, but it was about staying strong and solid.

“When I first arrived, players voted for the leadership and he got one vote. Then going into last year, he streeted them with votes and we made him a vice-captain.

“He has good presence, he articulates well, the players listen to him, he doesn’t pull any punches but he has enough empathy.”

If May will soon join Wright, Lynch, Miller, Saad and Martin in re-signing, Ablett’s future will be resolved only at season’s end.

Insiders say Ablett loves the Gold Coast but wife Jordan was desperately keen to return home, several times pushing him to request a trade.

Eade says it is impossible to answer what the Suns would do if Ablett again asked for a trade at the end of the season.

“We would hate to hypothesise. We would cross that bridge when we come to it. He has got his house on the market, but he is looking for another one,’’ he says.

“The media don’t ask about that. So he’s looking to buy. I don’t know whether he will ask or not. We will assess that at the end of the year if it does come.

“Hopefully it doesn’t come and he’s happy enough to stay. He has been terrific. He is helping with leadership. He is doing some coaching on the track.

“Every day he turns up with a smile on his dial.”

Eade confirms Jordan has also seemed more settled in recent months.

“I don’t know directly, but I have heard our welfare lady has been doing a lot of talking to her and she seems to be pretty happy,” he says.

Ablett will play midfield-forward in a 70-30 midfield split, Barlow is a tall onballer who can tag and Hanley, at his best, is a terrific line-breaker.

Lynch is the best young forward in the game and now has goalsneak Ainsworth at his feet. The halfback line has huge talent in Bowes and run-and-gun flanker Saad.

Eade believes in this group of players and says at some stage a team will buck the Gold Coast’s trend of sporting mediocrity.

Touk Miller has committed to the Gold Coast by signing a contract extension. Picture: Getty Images.

“It’s an interesting one,’’ he says. “It can’t just be the lack of passion and support. I don’t think there is distraction in the lifestyle with the surf and sand.

“Perth has good sunshine and beaches and so does Sydney. Maybe it’s that clubs haven’t been set up the right way.

“At the weekend we had a family day and I wondered how many would turn up and we had about 2000 people and 40 per cent of them were under 10.

“That was a big indicator that these kids want to get involved. So whichever sport can get a foothold as being successful, the Gold Coast people will jump on.”

Originally published as Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade says his approach to teaching players has shifted dramatically