Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade believes he has unearthed another midfielder in the last month in the form of Aaron Hall. As the SUNS look ahead to next year, and a midfield comprised of injured stars Gary Ablett, Jaeger O’Meara, David Swallow and Dion Prestia, the discovery of players like Hall and Jesse Lonergan in the second half of the season is a tantalising prospect for Eade.
 
Modern football powerhouses like Hawthorn, Fremantle, West Coast and Sydney bat extremely deep in the midfield. Well beyond a starting quartet. And emerging sides in the form of Collingwood, Greater Western Sydney and the Western Bulldogs have built from the ground up with a large and diverse onball contingency.
 
Eade is well aware that the SUNS require more depth in their engine room, and is confident they are on the right track, especially given the recent rise of Hall who before a month ago had rarely spent times in a role between the arcs and appeared an unlikely success story given his perceived lack of endurance.
 
“We’ve found another midfielder. His form since the Adelaide game has been very good. We’ve been really pleased with him. So next year, when our four gun midfielders come back, we’ve got added depth there,” Eade told SUNS TV on Thursday afternoon.
 
“Add Rischitelli to it, him, Lonergan, Jack Martin we want to play there, Harley as well – we’ve got eight or nine players now which is great.
 
“I think with a new high performance manager coming in as well, we believe our conditioning and our fitness will go to another level, that will add to that as well, as well as having more options to go through the midfield.”
 
In his post-mortem last Sunday in the bowels of the MCG, a reflective Eade was critical of Hall’s second half against Richmond despite the utility producing one of the best games of his career. The Tasmanian gathered 29 touches, starting like a house of fire, before fading after the main break.
 
Eade’s comments were indicative of the 24-year-old’s resurgence in the last month, with the former Western Bulldogs and Sydney mentor explaining how he was focusing on eradicating some small things out of Hall’s game to ensure he continues to improve going forward.
 
“His form in the second-half last week was okay. There was just three or four things that crept back into his game that we’ve been trying to coach out of his game,” Eade said.
 
“So I suppose as a coach you tend to harp on those things that you don’t like to see in his game.”