3:45:12 PM Tue 29 June, 2004
Paul Gough
Sportal
Former Sydney coach Rodney Eade has confirmed he is a candidate for the vacant Richmond coaching position.
Eade, who steered the Swans into their first grand final for 51 years in his first season in charge in 1996 before resigning in 2002, told Sportal on Tuesday he would be interested in taking on the Tigers next season.
“I’ve said all along that I am interested in coaching again,” he said.
“If Richmond wants to speak to me (about the vacant coaching position) then I would be happy to speak with them.”
“But it’s up the club to decide what they want to do.”
However Eade says he has not yet been approached by Richmond or by Adelaide, whose coaching position is also up for grabs following the resignation of Gary Ayres last week.
Eade, who played in four premierships for Hawthorn and was only last week named in Tasmania’s ‘Team of the Century’, has also said he would be interested in speaking to the Crows about their coaching position, if approached.
However while Richmond is now free to immediately begin searching for a new coach - following the resignation of coach Danny Frawley on Monday and his subsequent decision to remain in charge until the end of the season - the Crows will first give caretaker coach Neil Craig the chance to show his credentials for the vacant position.
Craig, a champion player in the SANFL but someone without previous AFL coaching experience, will take charge of Adelaide for the last nine matches of the season following Ayres’ decision to walk away from the club immediately, after he learned he would not be re-appointed next season.
And while that gives Craig the early running for the Adelaide job, both Eade and former Western Bulldogs’ coach Terry Wallace – both highly experienced AFL coaches with proven track records at getting their teams into the finals on a consistent basis – are expected to be leading contenders for the position.
Eade and Wallace are also the two clear favourites for the Richmond position, particularly as Tigers’ president Clinton Casey has previously said the club is looking for an experienced coach after its two previous coaches in Frawley and Jeff Gieschen had been appointed without previous senior AFL coaching experience.
And Eade also has the advantage of having previously worked with Richmond football director Greg Miller – who heads the Tigers’ coaching sub-committee which is responsible for the appointment of a new coach – when Eade was assistant coach to Denis Pagan, with Miller as football manager, at North Melbourne from 1992-95.
http://afl.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=157263
