The story behind Rodney Eade’s ‘big fish’ photo before debut game as Gold Coast coach
Rodney Eade couldn’t believe it when a Gold Coast newspaper pitched a photo shoot at a local fishmonger before his first game as Suns coach. Here’s how it came about and what Rocket really thought of the idea.
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Rodney Eade was considered a big fish.
The veteran coach arrived on Gold Coast’s glitter strip with more than a decade of experience, having steered Sydney to a Grand Final in 1996 and Western Bulldogs to three successive preliminary finals.
Expectations were high after the Suns agreed terms with Collingwood to poach Eade, who had served as Nathan Buckley’s director of football, in 2014.
News Corp’s Gold Coast Bulletin took the ‘big fish’ concept to another level, setting up a photo shoot with Eade at a local fishmonger before his first season at the helm.
“I argued with the media manager of the club and didn’t see the point, how it was going to be applicable,” Eade said.
“He said, ‘we should do this to keep the Bulletin happy’ and it was more about keeping the media happy there. Being new, I agreed to it reluctantly.”
The front page of the paper on March 30 read: “The Suns cast off into a new season this weekend and Eade is sure to hook fans with September success.”
Photographer Scott Fletcher produced a series of pictures with Eade holding a large fish, a unique way to promote his first game in charge against Melbourne.
“I said I didn’t want to do it but ended up agreeing because I was new to the club and thought, ‘oh well, if the club thinks it’s the right thing’,” Eade said.
“I was really only doing something to keep the local press happy. I didn’t think it’d be the greatest photo to come out and I can’t believe they even thought of it.”
When @GoldCoastSUNS signed Rodney Eade as coach, they thought they'd landed a big fish.
— The Front Bar (@thefrontbar7) April 26, 2018
So naturally, they made him do a photoshoot with a giant fish ðŸŸ
We wish we were making this up.#TheFrontBar pic.twitter.com/mRJyXDiFN5
Eade, now coach of suburban club Balwyn in Melbourne’s east, also took part in the more traditional promotional shoot at the Suns’ home ground — Metricon Stadium.
But it was, of course, the photo with Eade and his prized catch which made the following day’s front page.
The 61-year-old was a good sport when asked about the unusual picture, which promoted a Q&A in which Eade spoke of his ambition for the expansion club.
“Sure the expectation is to finish high. I would have thought 14 of the 18 clubs would be aiming for the finals,” he said in March, 2015.
In what would prove somewhat of a premonition, Eade added: “From a football sense, a lot of early draft picks … talent can only take you so far so there’s a lot of education to be done so that surprised me a bit, how much they didn’t know about footy.”
Eade led Gold Coast for three seasons after taking over from Guy McKenna.
The Suns won 16 of their 63 games during his tenure.
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