Rodney Eade’s contract as coach of the Gold Coast Suns was terminated last night with assistant coach Dean Solomon to serve as caretaker for the final three games of the season.
The discussion now shifts to his successor with current Carlton assistant John Barker considered to be the clear frontrunner, however as we have seen many times in the past, the favorite doesn’t always win the race.
So, who could replace Eade as the next coach of the Suns? We run through the leading candidates...
The main options…
John Barker (Carlton)
Brian Waldron revealed on June 20 that the former Fitzroy and Hawthorn forward would be the next Gold Coast coach. Barker has been an assistant at St Kilda, Hawthorn and Carlton and was the Blues caretaker coach for the final 14 matches in 2015.
Brett Ratten (Hawthorn)
Many feel that Ratten was stiff to be relieved of his duties as Carlton coach at the end of 2012 when the Blues snared Mick Malthouse from Collingwood. Ratten had led Carlton to three finals appearances and has since been an assistant at Hawthorn under Alastair Clarkson where he played a major role in the Hawks 2013, 2014 and 2015 flags.
Adam Kingsley (St Kilda)
The former Port Adelaide premiership defender is considered one of the rising stars in the coaching ranks and was considered for the St Kilda role – where he has been an assistant since 2011 – that eventually went to Alan Richardson.
Matthew Nicks (Port Adelaide)
The 42-year-old former Sydney Swan was this year made senior assistant to coach Ken Hinkley at Port Adelaide. He is a qualified stockbroker who cut his coaching teeth with UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs, then Scotch College in Adelaide before the power in a development role in 2010.
Stewart Dew (Sydney)
The two-time premiership player with Port Adelaide and Hawthorn has been working under John Longmire at Sydney for the past seven seasons after joining Swans late in 2009 as a development coach. In the past, he was considered a strong candidate for the coaching jobs at Adelaide, Carlton and Brisbane.
Simon Lloyd (Geelong)
Lloyd is the older brother of former Essendon champion, Matthew, and has almost 20 years of AFL industry experience. He was Collingwood’s high performance manager, psychologist and specialist coach from 2005-2009 and has previously worked at Hawthorn and Fremantle before joining Geelong as coaching director at the end of 2015.
Blake Caracella (Richmond)
The former Essendon and Brisbane premiership player Caracella was highly regarded at Collingwood and Geelong as an assistant and his move to Richmond has coincided with the Tigers remarkable rise up the ladder. An astute thinker of the game is one of the elite level-four coaches and is in charge of Richmond’s ball movement.
Michael Voss (Port Adelaide)
Many coaches will say that they were much better at the job second time around. The former Brisbane champion has already had one go at the top job when he took over for Leigh Matthews in 2009. After his resignation in 2013, he has since joined Port and has been in charge of the Power’s midfield.
The wildcard...
Nathan Buckley (Collingwood)
What if Collingwood doesn’t opt to extend Buckley’s contract? Herald Sun chief football writer Mark Robinson raised Buckley’s name as a possible successor for Eade in late April and there have been reports that the AFL would like to see the 2003 Brownlow Medallist coach the Suns.