Balwyn coach Rodney Eade still able to deliver a rocket

IT’S a long way from the AFL to the suburban grounds of the Eastern Football League for Rodney Eade, but the man they call Rocket brings just as much passion — and a few AFL level sprays too.

THE man they call “Rocket’’ is suddenly spitting out his words.

Quickly, he is cranky. Cuttingly, he expresses his displeasure at what he is seeing.

“Our mids are getting smashed!’’ he says. “Absolutely smashed. We have to change it up.’’

When a player marks on the wing and holds on to the ball, he’s fuming again. “Get it in!’’ he says. “How many bloody times do I have to say it? Just get the bloody thing in there.’’

He lifts his cap with his right hand and runs his left over his head and what’s left of his hair.

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This is Rodney “Rocket’’ Eade the Balwyn coach, new to the club but an old hand at the coaching caper. He turned 60 at the start of the season as he went from Gold Coast and the AFL one year to Balwyn and the Eastern Football League the next.

Rodney Eade has settled into life coaching Balwyn in the Eastern Football League. Picture: Valeriu Campan

At halftime on Saturday Eade walked into the changerooms with his Tigers holding a 31-point advantage over Noble Park in the Division 1 match. But for a couple of bad misses, it would have been further in front.

Now, 15 minutes into the third quarter, Noble has kicked five unanswered goals to grab the lead. Eade simmers, grabbing at the board held by his assistant Mick Soldatos and looking over his match-ups. The Balwyn bench goes quiet as “Rocket’’ launches.

His first move is to send Kris Pendlebury, brother of Collingwood champion Scott, back to defence, where he usually plays. Eade had started him forward and he booted three goals in the first quarter. But now he’s needed to bolster a backline struggling to resist so many attacks.

Former Collingwood player Kyle Martin is dominating for Noble Park.

“You’ve got to be tighter on Martin. It’s no good kick-chasing the way you’re using it!’’ Eade snaps at top Tiger Liam Frazer as he comes to the bench.

But Balwyn answers the Bulls with three consecutive goals and goes into the last change 15 points to the good.

A large crowd circles the huddle as the former Sydney, Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast coach talks to his players.

Eade coached 162 games at the Western Bulldogs. Picture: Phil Hillyard

A young photographer edges in and gets too close for Eade’s comfort.

“Mate can you just piss off please?’’ he says. The snapper backs away.

Then Eade is into his address.

“Pretty ordinary early and where we lost it was … come on Smithy (Liam Smith), concentrate mate, we need you to get a f …. kick for us, come on … we lost it completely around the stoppages. They smashed us, smashed us. Just got too much clean ball and just went forward with weight of numbers. Couple of shit decisions, I know, but OK, those we can’t control. It is what it is. But we turned it around. What happened, we started to win the ball. So it gives our forwards an option. We just had no territory. Got to get some territory.’’

He winds up with: “This game’s on the line. This is the one. We spoke before the game about are we really ready to cross the line, are we ready to cross the Rubicon, are we prepared to do it. Get the centre bounce right, make it a shit fight, surge the ball forward.’’

Balwyn starts the final quarter smartly, with key forward Jeff Gobbels kicking two goals. A clever snap from Marc O’Regan extends the lead to 33 points and there is no way back for Noble. But Eade’s competitive juices are still flowing.

“Where’s our physio, where’s our physio?’’ he asks as Lachlan Waddell comes to the bench. His darting eyes catch Tiger medical man James Brooke.

Eade during his playing days at Hawthorn.

“James, can you have a look at his big toe,’’ he says, pointing to Waddell, a ruckman coached at Port Melbourne by Eade’s great mate and former teammate Gary Ayres.

And when a Balwyn player is ridden in the back but receives no free kick, Eade shouts: “Put a saddle on him.’’ The people around the Balwyn bench dissolve into laughter.

The siren brings a 24-point victory and relief for Balwyn. Beset by injuries, it had dropped its previous three games, a run of outs the club last experienced in 1995.

It prompted a few wags in Eastern to say that if Eade felt under pressure in his last few weeks at Gold Coast, imagine what it must be like at Balwyn, one of suburban football’s most successful and envied clubs of the past 20 years.

After the siren he puts on his backpack, wanders over to the fence to say hi to former Victorian cricketer Brendan “Bushy’’ McArdle and makes a point of going over to say well played to Martin, who had 36 possessions for Noble Park.

The Balwyn rooms quickly fill as the song is sung: “Oh we’re from Tigerland, a fighting fury we’re from Tigerland…’’

Eade stands to the side but moves in as his players sit down for his after-match summary. A few whistles bring silence to the room.

Well done, he says. It was a good result. Everyone contributed. We would have won by eight goals if we kicked straight in the second quarter.

But he pinpoints one player. “Don’t start drinking your own bathwater. If you want to play in this team, you’ve got to play better than that. You’ve got to concentrate. You were in gaga land.’’

The Eastern Football League is a far cry from the AFL for Eade. Picture: Andy Brownbill

After the barb comes a bouquet for Ed Court, who was playing his 100th game for the club, but his first in the seniors.

“Terrific first game, son,’’ he says, setting off applause and a call of “Onya, Courty’’.

The rooms break up a minute later when Eade questions another Tiger about his decision to kick the ball short.

“I just can’t believe it. You are a ‘DC’,’’ he says lightheartedly.

When a supporter dares to ask what a DC is, Eade shoots back that it’s something that starts with “dumb’’. More laughter.

Eade was a late appointment to Balwyn. In January the club announced that Marty Pask had been forced to stand down because of his growing business interests (people close to Pask were quick to counter that he had no say in his departure) and that Eade would be taking over.

Tigers president Richard Wilson called it “one of those unique circumstances where a community club has the opportunity to bring in a person who has coached at the highest level’’.

Balwyn recruits and former Suns players Daniel Gorringe and Henry Schade weren’t so enthusiastic, walking out on the club.

In Eade, Balwyn had gained a coach with 377 games of AFL experience — 152 matches at Sydney, 162 at the Western Bulldogs and 63 at the Suns. There were also 229 games as a player at Hawthorn and 30 with the Brisbane Bears.

Eace found himself at Balwyn after leaving the Gold Coast Suns. Picture: Colleen Petch.

Wilson says Eade is doing an excellent job, “as you’d expect’’, but injuries have frustrated the club. “He just needs everyone fit,’’ he says. “We’ve had injuries in the past that have cost us but nothing like this. Key players too … Luke Barker, Tom Roach, Charlie Haley, Cam Manuel, Jayme Gottliebson, Ayden Kennedy.’’

The injury list, a drop-off in numbers in a struggling reserves team and the comings and goings of Balwyn’s VFL-listed players have thinned attendance on the track.

“They don’t turn up to training a lot,’’ Eade says when he’s asked about the biggest adjustment he’s had to make. “I knew it would be like that, but it’s a little bit less than I thought. But there’s great spirit around the place. It’s a great footy club.’’

Stalwart player Rennie Gilchrist was unsure what to expect when Eade took over.

“You’ve seen him on TV for your whole life really, playing and coaching, so you’re a bit nervous and you want to impress. But once you get to know him he’s just a regular bloke,’’ he says.

“He’s been great with his education of players and buying in to the club. He demands certain standards and always wants us to improve but he has a great rapport with all the boys. He has a great sense of humour.’’

And he still has the ability to deliver a great spray, as the Tigers found after their Round 2 win over reigning premier South Croydon.

Wilson says Eade wanted to make a point about backchat to the umpires and other issues of discipline, and he made it loudly and colourfully.

“It was a ripper,’’ he says. “He lined up some players. But he finished it off with, ‘Anyway boys, great game, great win, well done’ and the players started laughing. They loved it. It was classic ‘Rocket’.’’