Eade signs on out west

The Western Bulldogs are all smiles after resigning the coach, Rodney Eade until the end of the 2009 AFL season. However Eade looks forward to a longer future with the club then just the next three seasons.

Eade who led the team to there first finals series since, 2000 this year joined the club just two years ago and has made a dramatic impact since arriving. Bulldogs President, David Smorgon wasted no time in resigning on of the AFL’s most respected coaches. Eade original three year contract was set to expire at the end of next season but he has extended it and is now with the club for three more years.

Eade is keen however to stay at the Doggies longer then just the three year extension and see himself as part of the clubs bright future.

“Certainly it is exciting for me to extend the contract until the end of 2009 and hopefully it will be further than that as well," he said on Thursday as the Bulldogs also launches a bid to increase there membership from 26,000 to 32,000m members by next year.

“There has been discussion (with the Bulldogs board about an even longer deal) and certainly from my point I would like to be here longer.”

Smorgon believes Eade is the right man to lead the Bulldogs into the future and sees the work he has done in his first two season at the helm has proven he is the right man.

“It's fair to say that two years ago the board, after a very thorough process, determined Rodney was the right man to lead the Bulldogs to heights we haven't been too for many, many years,” he said.

“The evidence is clearly there over the last two years that he is the right man for the job and it's with great pleasure that we announce to the football public and Bulldogs' members that Rodney will be the senior coach and head of football until the end of 2009.”

Eade also talked about what is expected of his club next season and that the expectations will jump next season with the addition of Andrew McDougall and Jason Akermanis to the Bulldogs. Add to that the return of key big man Luke Darcy as well as Robert Murphy and Mitchell Hahn who are all returning from long term knee injuries.

“But we have got to be able to cope with that (burden of expectation) because the good teams do, whether you are underdogs or favourites it shouldn't affect your performance and the way you go about it,” he said.

“We have got four or five guys above 30, but 80 percent of our players are 24 or younger and there is still a lot of improvement even in guys like Lindsay Gilbee, who was an All-Australian this year.”

“We are still off the pace a fair bit so we have still got a lot of hard work to do but certainly next year we will have a bit more quality (amongst the playing list) that will ensure players are fighting for spots within the team.”

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