Fitzy reveals the Eade sledge that went too far

RADIO star Ryan Fitzgerald has opened up about the “personal” sledge about his Dad from a former mentor that “really cut me”.

Ryan Fitzgerald during his playing career with the Swans.

RYAN Fitzgerald has revealed how his very first game of reserves footy for the Sydney Swans was tarnished by the sledging of former coach Rodney Eade.

As part of an hour-long discussion about his AFL career on the JunkTime AFL Podcast, the Nova radio star recounted the bad taste left in his mouth by Eade’s attack.

Fitzgerald lined up for his first game in Swans colours in a Twos match at the SCG in 1999 and his father came all the way from Adelaide to watch.

“My whole footy career was his life,” Fitzgerald said. “He used to drive from Adelaide to Sydney sometimes to come and watch me play, that’s how much it meant to him. He couldn’t afford a plane ticket.”

The Swans were locked in a tight contest when Fitzgerald’s father provided a lighter moment as players gathered ahead of the final quarter.

“Dad’s still a country boy at heart and at three-quarter time at the SCG he just thought it was country footy and you could just jump the fence and listen to the three-quarter time address,” Fitzgerald said.

“So the security guard grabbed him and he said ‘F*** off, mate, my son’s playing’. So the bloke let him get out there. So there’s just one random bloke in a pair of acid wash jeans and a hat on listening to the address. I’m going ‘what are you doing out here?’ and he’s saying ‘just concentrate’.

“That first game we had a great win, we were behind and we came back and we won. And it’s your first moment at the club, I was so excited, you’ve learned the words, you want to sing the song. Dad came down and he was nearly crying, the emotion … there were a lot of parents down there that day and my old man just joined in on the song. Arm in arm, Dad’s next to me and joined in on the circle. I’m a little bit embarrassed but I knew how passionate Dad was.”

But the thrill was ruined for Fitzgerald when Eade approached him in the changerooms before training the following week.

“He just started having a crack at me: ‘Your old man going to rock up this week and make a fool of himself?’” Fitzgerald recalled.

“I turned around and said ‘what?’ and I could hear a bit of sniggering from the boys. He said ‘you know, trying to get on the oval and now he’s getting involved with the song, is he going to rock up and make a fool of himself?’

“I said ‘he’s just watching his son play’. I was a bit cut up by that, it shattered me a bit. It was a bit personal. And I thought for a club that prides themselves on family and looking after the families as much as the players, I think he just f***ed up a little bit there. It may have been his style of humour but that really cut me.”

Rodney Eade addresses the Swans in 2001.

Fitzgerald wasn’t a huge fan of Eade’s motivational style and believes it also affected the early career of Brownlow Medalist Adam Goodes.

“If you’re playing well and the team’s winning, he’s your best mate. As soon as things start to go a bit sour and he’s under the pump a bit, things completely change,” he said.

“He liked to belittle people. That was his way. You could be at a training session and drop a mark on a lead and he would stop the training session and single you out in front of everyone.

“Some people react differently to that … unfortunately for me, you go into your shell a bit and lose your confidence as well.”

“Rocket treated Goodesy really bad,” he added. “You’ll never hear Goodesy say this … Rocket used to call him the turtle because he reckoned every time he went up for the ball he’d s*** himself and put his head back into his shell.

“Goodesy, lovely guy, you’ll never hear him say a bad word about someone, but he had an effect on Goodesy’s career, Rocket Eade.”