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Eade scared the daylights out of green Irishman
Michael Cowley | November 6, 2009 - 10:33AM
RODNEY EADE was the one who gave Tadhg Kennelly his "opportunity" and taught him about the foreign game, but the Irishman admits in his new book, Unfinished Business, he was scared of the coach throughout his time at the club.
Kennelly writes that the 2002 season, Eade's last, was "not a very enjoyable" time to be playing at the Swans with "the players and coach at loggerheads" and morale down, before the players decided they needed a rare, impromptu, mid-season, bonding session. The morning after they were confronted by Eade, who ordered a "brutal weights session". The following day, Eade resigned.
"Although I'd been scared of him for most of my time at the club 'Rocket' had taught me a lot about the game, particularly tactics and reading the play," Kennelly writes.
"He was the one who had given me my opportunity and for that I would forever be indebted to him. There had been a lot of fear playing under Rocket, especially for young players. You felt that if you made a mistake, you'd be dropped the next week, or if you made an error, at quarter-time or half-time the coach would blow the shit out of you.
"The fear had always been there, both at training and in the games. It was unhealthy and forced a lot of players to go into their shells and not express themselves.
"For the players it was certainly a case of going from one extreme to the other [when Paul Roos took over], with Roosy an absolute favourite amongst the boys. That was obvious in the way we played for him. There was a drastic change in the game plan, with the players basically told just to go out and play. The shackles were released by our new coach for the final 10 games of the season and they were easily the most enjoyable I had played."
Kennelly says word got out among the players the board was intending to give the job to Terry Wallace. They made a statement in the final game, beating Richmond at Telstra Stadium, then gathering in the middle of the ground, before lifting Roos onto their shoulders. "It was a real defining moment. We were telling the board that this was our man."
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