Gold Coast SUNS list manager Scott Clayton has revealed coach Rodney Eade played a pivotal role in signing Jarrad Grant, with the veteran mentor identifying a specific role for the former pick No. 5.
 
During his past life, Clayton originally recruited Grant to Whitten Oval in the 2007 national draft. Eade was also at the Bulldogs at the time as the senior coach, so the connections run deep.
 
Grant played 19 games in 2015, predominantly on a wing, before the Dogs cut him free at the end of the season with 81 career games next to his name. But the SUNS view Grant as a mobile third tall option in attack, where he can play high through the arcs and provide a target on transition.
 
“I think more importantly the coach is pretty keen on him and when the coach is committed to somebody and has a specific role it normally works,” Clayton told Melbourne radio station SEN on Monday morning.
 
“But I do personally think his best footy is in front of him and I thought his year was quite good. So I think it’s a good mix for us.
 
“He played a fair bit of wing this year, but certainly Rodney Eade thinks that he can be a very dangerous forward and he wants to structure up the forward line and that includes Jarrad.
 
“He’s really quick and he can mark it, his hands off are really quick, so he sees him being able to link up and lead up and then go back to the square. He certainly has a very specific role in mind and he think that Jarrad is the right man for it.”
 
Clayton is confident Gold Coast’s new recruit will be able to find consistency at his new home and deliver on the potential that saw him taken in the first round of the 2007 draft.
 
“He has elite ability so he’s now at the age, he’s in that prime time now, that it’s all got to come together and deliver it consistently and I think that’s what he’ll be trying to do and that’s what we’ll be trying to assist him in,” Clayton said.
 
“We’re confident that he will continue to improve, there’s no doubt and we’re hopeful that happens.”
 
Grant will commence training with his new teammates when the main training group begins their pre-season campaign on November 23. Gold Coast’s first-to-fourth year players began pre-season training on Monday morning.