Eade - not easy to work with??

[bobmurray]

If he doesn't fire a shot next season he'll get a Rocket from Smorgan..

[ben_fff]

The dogs wont make the 8 next year, even if they retained their staff the side they took into this year had more holes in it then any other top ten side from this year... they failed to adress any of them instead going for Akermanis who was a waste, they need more hard players, a decent full back (Harris is a better Flanker/third tall) and now need another CHB... not to mention a actual tall in the forward line as well as a ruckman... their midfield leaves alot to be desired as well.

[rodgerfox]

Flavour of the month to sink the boot in, all because injuries ruined their year.

Nup. I've been questioning the love of Rodney Eade for years.

Apart from one of the most star studded lists ever assembled (AFL assisted) in 96, he has done nothing.

He kept Sydney consistently competitive (made finals year after year, added to a 1996 GF appearence) and developed heaps of talent for Roos to work with.

Competetive doesn't make you a good coach. It makes you in the top 50% of coaches. But considering about 3 or 4 teams each year are planning for the future, that's not much to get excited about.

That's what Eade does, does enough to be mediocre but by doing so doesn't give his club a chance to be a real contender. He coaches for his own win/loss ratio. That's what these 'career coaches' do. They protect their win/loss ratio at all costs. It looks good on their resume.

Had the Dogs playing exhilirating footy last year. With a bit of luck, they'll have a real crack next year.

I disagree.

Scott West and Brad Johnson carried the Dogs in 06. They had unbelievable years.

Last year they didn't, and they struggled. Eade is building a game plan and a list that will keep his win/loss in the black, but won't threaten seriously. They'll thrasj poor teams, and get comfortably beaten by the good ones.

That doesn't make a good coach.

[evertonfc]

Competetive doesn't make you a good coach.

What makes a good coach, RF?

[Eastern]

It certianly appears that Eade is very difficult to get along with at all sorts of levels. Does anyone on here have any 1st hand experience in dealing with him? SENsational? ............... !!

[yipper]

Competetive doesn't make you a good coach.

What makes a good coach, RF?

A good coach won't abuse the crap out of his staff and players. He will get his teams to be premiership contenders consistently - not just be a competitive thereabouts team. Eade has made 1 GF in 10 years of coaching. He had a star-studded team in Sydney when he started there too. Hand delivered courtesy of the AFL. What did he do?

[rodgerfox]

Competetive doesn't make you a good coach.

What makes a good coach, RF?

A good coach is a coach that can consistently put a team in a position to win a flag. To be a genuine contender.

Whether they actually win it or not can come down to uncontrollables, so I think winning it isn't really the mark of coaching greatness - in most cases.

But getting to that position where you are capable of winning the flag, is what to me, makes a good coach.

Getting to that position under adversity makes a great coach.

Doing it consistently makes a great coach.

Doing it with different players, at different clubs makes you a great coach.

[Oh When the Saints]

Eade will enter next year as the fourth longest-serving coach at AFL level never to have coached a premiership, behind John Northey, Bob Rose and Garry Ayres.

No-one has every won a premiership from his position - i.e. no-one has ever coached ten years without a flag and then gone on to win one.



He has not built a list at either Sydney or the Western Bulldogs that is capable of winning a premiership. Peter Rhode and Terry Wallace built most of the current Dogs' list, and it has too many weaknesses to win a flag.

Plus I hate his gamestyle at the Dogs.

[meher baba]

It is obvious that, although he is clearly a smart tactician (I think RF and some others of you are overly crtitical of his technical abilities, which are superior to those of most other coaches), the players in the teams he coaches both detest him and are somewhat afraid of him.

Watch the body language of players in his presence: it has been the same at both the Swans and the Dogs. For example, when the Dogs beat the Pies in the EF in 2006, not a single Doggie player wanted to go anywhere near him!!

[maverick]

I agree on Eade, struggled this year.
I also think the Doggies list is in real trouble.
With Darcy and Grant gone and West and Johnson nearing the end their list is starting to look thin on the ground. It's also a fallacy that the list is young, have a good luck at their core, they are 25+.
Eade will be gone by the end of next year.

[Oh When the Saints]

Grant, West, Johnson, Eagleton, Robbins, Montgomery ... all key parts of their '06 campaign who will be either retired or 30+ years old next year.

Their core is really: Minson, Griffen, Morris, Cooney, Cross, Boyd, Harris, Hahn, Gilbee, Hargrave, Murphy, Giansiracusa

All are 24+ and should be in their prime now.

What do you notice about that list though?

Only ONE key position player.


Their KPP's are either young (Williams) or hacks (Skipper, McDougall).

[Teflon]

Great coach.

Why?

What is that based on?

When I look at Eade's record (apart from year 1), I see nothing but mediocrity.

Agree - blatantly overrated coach. Hailed as tactically brilliant, but has no consistent record of success over the years he has coached. Teams he coaches always seem to lack alternative plans when the opposition get in front.

sounds familiar,..

[linz]

I'm happy to have Lyon as our coach. Having stated that, why is Ross better than Rocket? Why are we bucketing Eade?

[yipper]

I'm happy to have Lyon as our coach. Having stated that, why is Ross better than Rocket? Why are we bucketing Eade?

The post was pondering the seemingly high level of defections from the Kennel - and the reputation of Eade as an extremely difficult character to work with. Naturally his overall coaching record is a discussion point.

[rodgerfox]

It is obvious that, although he is clearly a smart tactician (I think RF and some others of you are overly crtitical of his technical abilities, which are superior to those of most other coaches)

Tactics don't win flags.

I've argued this for years on here.

Tactics will pinch you wins here and there, and probably get you into the 8 - but when it gets fair dinkum, you don't outsmart good footy teams.

The other problem with tactics, is that for them to outsmart the opposition they are often complicated, and take a fair amount of thinking from your players.

Players generally aren't great thinkers.

Now if they do master a complicated game plan, what happens when it gets found out? You're stuffed.

It happened to Eade at the Swans, and it's already happened at the Dogs.

Footy is a simple game. The same things win flags that won them 20 years ago.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

It is obvious that, although he is clearly a smart tactician (I think RF and some others of you are overly crtitical of his technical abilities, which are superior to those of most other coaches)

Tactics don't win flags.

I've argued this for years on here.

Tactics will pinch you wins here and there, and probably get you into the 8 - but when it gets fair dinkum, you don't outsmart good footy teams.

I agree with this. For all I'm a big proponent of tactics, and I think the coach has to understand it, provided that's the case, I think tactics can be well handled by a good assistant.

I'm a firm believer in gameplan however... as good as your list can be, they've all got to be on the same page and understand where each player is going. You can't change the goals of all 18 players at the drop of a hat and expect it to work.

Personally, one of the things I did like about last year was that there appears to be a plan A and a plan B... much as everyone hates it, and as bad as the Saints were at executing it, I think both tempo footy and numbers back are important strategies in modern footy. It's also necessary to be able to man up and play some offense first football when it's close or when you're behind, otherwise the control established through the tempo is risky and you leave yourself open to a single burst from the opposition undoing all the hard work.

I think Eade has a good grasp on strategy and tactics, but at least his Bulldogs have been unidimensional, without avenues to goal when their run gets shut down. Coach or list? Hard to say, but Eade will certainly be under pressure, and doesn't appear close to challenging for a premiership right now, and that's a list issue - which Eade is not appearing to address.

[rodgerfox]

I'm a firm believer in gameplan however... as good as your list can be, they've all got to be on the same page and understand where each player is going. You can't change the goals of all 18 players at the drop of a hat and expect it to work.

Absolutely.

You have a plan, you drill it into your players and you stick to it.

It needs to be simple enough to be carried out in all conditions, at all grounds and at all times of the year.

It can't revolve around key players too much either.

Eade's does. And it did at Sydney.

[stinger]

I'm a firm believer in gameplan however... as good as your list can be, they've all got to be on the same page and understand where each player is going. You can't change the goals of all 18 players at the drop of a hat and expect it to work.

Absolutely.

You have a plan, you drill it into your players and you stick to it.

It needs to be simple enough to be carried out in all conditions, at all grounds and at all times of the year.

It can't revolve around key players too much either.

Eade's does. And it did at Sydney.

yep...get the ball...kick it to your mate in the direction of your own goal.......