AFL
AAP, with Niall Seewang 7y

Suns sack Rodney Eade, Dean Solomon takes over

AFL

Gold Coast have sacked coach Rodney Eade after three disappointing seasons at the helm of the AFL club.

The Suns sit out of finals contention in 15th place this season under Eade, who previously coached at Sydney and the Western Bulldogs.

The club finished 16th and 15th in the past two years respectively.

The Suns started the season with expectations of its first finals appearance since its 2011 inception, but have only managed six wins with three rounds remaining.

Assistant coach Dean Solomon will take the reins for the remainder of the season, starting with the clash against Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday.

Suns CEO Mark Evans said Solomon was the obvious choice to take over from Eade.

"Dean Solomon was asked by me to lead the club for the final three weeks. He's the best person to galvanise our group," Evans said. 

"On behalf of everyone involved we thank Rodney, his wife Wendy and their family for their contributions to our football club."

The club's board met on Monday night to decide the future of Eade, who informed the club this morning he would stand down immediately, according to News Corp Australia.

The Lions match would have been Eade's 378th as an AFL coach, putting him equal 13th on the list of most games coached in VFL/AFL history, alongside Checker Hughes.

The Suns sacked inaugural coach Guy McKenna at the end of the 2014 season, bringing in Eade from Collingwood where he was an assistant to Nathan Buckley.

While the Suns have struggled and never finished higher than 12th in six seasons, fellow expansion side Greater Western Sydney have excelled in the past two years, making the preliminary finals last year and sitting second in 2017.

The Suns have endured the departures of top-end talent including Jaeger O'Meara, Harley Bennell, Zac Smith, Dion Prestia and Charlie Dixon, while marquee man Gary Ablett his struggled over his time at the club with injury.

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