The Gold Coast SUNS are pleased to advise that Rodney Eade will join the club as senior coach.

Eade, who has coached 314 games with the Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs Football Clubs, joins the GC SUNS from the Collingwood Football Club, where he held the position of Director of Football.

GC SUNS Chairman, John Witheriff, welcomed Eade’s arrival.

“We are really pleased to have landed someone with the credibility, knowledge and experience of Rodney Eade,” Mr Witheriff said.

“We went out to identify the most appropriate person to lead us through our next phase as a football club, and Rodney is the man who will get the job done.

“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,” Witheriff said.

The GC SUNS Chairman said Eade’s arrival at the club capped off a strong month for the SUNS, having appointed Andrew Travis as CEO, and welcomed Sydney Swans premiership player Nick Malceski and Hawk, Mitch Hallahan.

“Make no mistake; the Gold Coast Football Club is moving in to a period where we expect the team to be playing finals football and aiming for sustained success. If we change gears and take the next step as a football club, those goals are well within reach.”

After reaching three preliminary finals in six seasons at the helm of the Western Bulldogs, Eade joined Collingwood at the end of 2011 to become its Football and Coaching Strategist before taking over as Director of Football midway through 2013.

Born and raised in Glenorchy, Tasmania, Eade played in four premierships for Hawthorn during its glory era in the 1970s and 1980s before ending his career with the Brisbane Bears when the club was based at Carrara.

Eade went on to coach the Bears to the reserves premiership in 1991 and then joined North Melbourne as an assistant coach. He coached the Kangaroos reserves in 1994 and 1995, winning his second reserve grade premiership in 1995.

After completing a five-year apprenticeship, Eade was appointed senior coach of the Sydney Swans in 1996 and took his team to the grand final in his first season.

Throughout his time at the Swans and Bulldogs, Eade’s teams have always been competitive and made regular finals appearances.

Mr Witheriff, GC SUNS CEO Andrew Travis, and new senior coach Rodney Eade, will be available to the media at a time to be advised on Friday.