The Gold Coast Suns think Rodney Eade is the man who can take their brilliant young list into the finals for the first time, after reportedly signing the former Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs coach to a three-year deal.

In a sport that has seen the average age of senior coaches lowered significantly in recent years, Eade’s appointment – along with that of 54-year-old Phillip Walsh at Adelaide – is a sign that in the search for success clubs are opting for age before beauty.

Eade is 56, and probably thought his chance to coach a premiership was gone when he was shown the door by the Dogs back in 2011.   

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But the lure of one more crack at it (and with those kids!) was too much for the four-time Hawthorn premiership player to resist.

Is Eade the right man to be entrusted with what is probably the best collection of young talent in the competition?

Terry Wallace, another former Western Bulldogs coach, believes so.

“Look, he ticks most of the boxes for me,” Wallace said on SEN radio on Tuesday.

The Suns believe Rodney Eade’s approach is just what they need to take the next step. Photo: Getty

“If you go through some of the boxes, this Gold Coast side never played finals, they want somebody who’s been a finals coach and understands finals experience. Well he’s played it, four premierships (with Hawthorn); he’s been there both with Sydney and the Western Bulldogs.

“Has he been up in the Queensland market? Well, yes he has. He actually played up in the Queensland market. Has he coached a team in the NRL heartland? Yes he has, he coached Sydney.

“You go through every box; he just about ticks every single thing that they would be needing.”

Gold Coast is yet to make an official announcement, but the news of Eade’s appointment was widely reported on Tuesday.

The Suns are expected to unveil Eade later this week.

When Guy McKenna departed the Suns’ hot seat he said he suspected the club wanted a coach with premiership experience.

Eade doesn’t have that, but the move presents him with a belated chance to fix that one glaring gap in his outstanding CV.

Of the 19 men to coach 300 or more matches in VFL/AFL history, Eade and John Northey are the only ones not to have guided a team to a premiership.

Four years into their AFL life, the Suns are stacked with talent and appear a perfect fit for a well-credentialled veteran coach such as Eade.

Gold Coast have so much good young talent they may be able to carry this old bloke. Photo: Getty

They appeared headed for their first finals series this year, before captain Gary Ablett suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in round 16.

The Suns lost six of their last seven games and this fadeout was a key factor in McKenna losing the job on October 1.

Eade is a highly respected figure in the game and the essence of his brief will be to take the fledgling team as far as possible into September.

After leaving the Bulldogs in 2011, he joined Collingwood and appeared unlikely to coach his own team again.

He took over last year as the Magpies’ football director.

But it emerged last week that the Suns had identified Eade as their man and would make a major pitch for him.

Eade met with the Suns on Monday and 24 hours later had decided to accept their offer.

He won the job ahead of current Gold Coast assistants Dean Solomon and Andy Lovell.

Eddie not happy

But before Gold Coast unveil Eade as their new coach, Collingwood president Eddie McGuire made it clear they will have to negotiate his release from the Magpies.

Eade’s departure this late in the year means Collingwood will have to scramble to find a new football department boss.

“Certainly when you have people on long-term contracts and you have your people in place, then to do a deal, you have to do a deal,” McGuire said on Triple M.

“Part of that would be, they’d want to be paying part of his fee.

“I don’t think there would be any problems, but what they have to do is, they have to do a deal.”

“Unfinished business”

AFL commentator Luke Darcy, who played under Eade at the Bulldogs, was enthusiastic on Monday morning about his old coach making a comeback.

“My inkling is that he has unfinished business in that department,” Darcy said.

“He got very close with Sydney and very close with the Bulldogs and he’d be a great choice – he’s a great coach.”

Eade’s upcoming appointment will leave the Bulldogs as the only team yet to confirm their senior coach for next season.

Eade had ruled himself out of the running for the Gold Coast job just a fortnight ago.

“Yes you can rule me out,” Eade told Fairfax earlier this month.

“I think I’ve lost enough hair, don’t you?”

– with AAP