Gold Coast and Collingwood have reached an agreement that allows Rodney Eade to take up his new position with the Suns.
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The Gold Coast Suns have confirmed it has reached a deal with Collingwood to bring Rodney Eade to the club as senior coach.
Eade was still contracted to the Magpies as football director, and the club demanded it receive compensation for the loss of the former Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs coach.
The Suns released a statement saying a “mutual agreement” between the two clubs had been met, and Eade was now able to take up his new role at the expansion club.
“We are really pleased to have landed someone with the credibility, knowledge and experience of Rodney Eade,” Suns chairman John Witheriff said.
“Confirmation of the appointment followed meaningful negotiations as Rodney had an employment contract in place with Collingwood, however, a mutual agreement was reached between our two clubs, and we are now extremely happy to ratify Rodney as our new senior coach.
“These discussions have also been the catalyst to forming a partnership between the Gold Coast Suns and Collingwood Football Club to further grow our great game in Queensland and we look forward to expanding on this in the near future.”
In a statement on the Collingwood website, Eade said the offer from the Suns was too good to refuse.
“Only a very specific opportunity was going to lure me away from Collingwood and back into coaching,” Eade said.
“Then, almost out of left field, the opportunity with the Suns emerged and, to be honest, there probably wasn’t another that I was prepared to consider.
“So, I say thanks to everyone at Collingwood, particularly Eddie McGuire, Gary Pert and Nathan Buckley, and move on knowing the foundation for an exciting period in the club’s history has been laid.”
Eade has held a senior coaching role since 2011, however the 56-year-old has coached 317 games at AFL level with both the Swans and the Bulldogs.
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