VoxBlog

Former AFL coach Rodney Eade has revealed he was the man captured in a piece of audio unleashing an epic spray that went viral last week after earlier denying it was him.

Eade, who coached Sydney, Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast, said some creative editing was behind the stitch-up, making the outburst appear more dramatic than it actually was. Initially he believed he wasn’t the man in the audio but now acknowledges it was him — but said the clip had been doctored.

Nicknamed “Rocket” for a reason, Eade was famous for his volatile sprays in the coaching box and the audio that was posted to Nuffies on AFL Pages on Facebook last week depicted him as blasting former Bulldogs star Will Minson — a player Eade once described as the “dumbest smart bloke” in the AFL.

The audio went viral as former stars who played under Eade, like Luke Darcy and Ryan Fitzgerald, had a good laugh over it.

After earlier denials, Eade came clean on RSN Radio on Monday and explained his blow-ups over the course of an entire game against St Kilda were edited to make people believe he’d unleashed all his fury in 90 seconds.

RELATED: Eade denies involvement in AFL outburst

“It was certainly disappointing. It’s not my finest minute-and-a-half,” Eade said.

“It’s done over a whole game, so it’s two-and-a-half hours condensed to a minute-and-a-half and I would think a lot of coaches would have as many expletives over two-and-a-half hours.

“It wasn’t all directed at Will (Minson). The one about getting Will off was about the runner, we were shouting to the runner. It wasn’t actually about Will.

“When Leon (Cameron, Eade’s former assistant coach at the Bulldogs) said, ‘Quiet Rocket, we can’t think’ I’ve gone, ‘Oh yeah, OK’ so I said sorry, I was really calm about that and I would have stayed calm for about 10 or 15 minutes.

“They’ve put the next expletives in, which they’ve put on a loop and that changed my voice. A few people said to me, ‘That doesn’t sound like me’ and I thought, ‘No it didn’t’ so that’s what I thought.

“They’ve done a good job of (editing) it and unfortunately it’s out there.”

You can listen to the audio in the video player above but be warned, it has plenty of expletives.

LEGEND LASHES EAGLES

St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt has slammed West Coast after Geelong thumped the Eagles 15.14 (104) to 7.4 (46) on Sunday.

The reigning premiers are 12th on the ladder after a 3-3 start to the season and the 58-point loss to the Cats comes the week after a 42-point drubbing at the hands of Port Adelaide.

“They’ve had three defeats this year that have all been smashings,” Riewoldt said on SEN Breakfast.

“Their ability yesterday to score from intercepts, it was horrible. They couldn’t move the footy and they couldn’t get it off Geelong. It looked like a training run.

“I think there are some legitimate concerns.”

Melbourne great Garry Lyon said the Eagles were “unrecognisable” and Essendon legend Tim Watson said if the poor performances keep coming, serious questions may need to be asked of the West Australian club.

“We keep saying that about teams (they’re unrecognisable) after they’ve had success, and then it’s an accumulation of poor performances and then at some point we say, ‘Hang on a minute, is there something going on here?’” Watson said.

“Their last two weeks have been really poor and they’re down on contested ball and their clearance work and the things that were part of their DNA last year.”

ABLETT SOARS AGAIN

Gary Ablett has been drawing comparisons with his famous father and namesake for much of his storied AFL career.

It comes with the territory for two of the very best players in the competition’s long history.

And it happened again on Sunday night, when the younger Ablett — less than a month shy of his 35th birthday — turned back the clock with a virtuoso best-on-ground performance in Geelong’s 58-point demolition of West Coast.

The bare numbers were impressive enough — 28 disposals, five clearances and two goals. But it was the way he did it in the new role as a high half-forward that was most impressive.

Just as Ablett senior transformed himself from dashing wingman to a champion full-forward, his son has changed from midfield tyro to a player who does his most damaging work inside the forward 50m arc.

“I’m not necessarily talking about his dad,” said coach Chris Scott, although he pretty much was doing just that.

“But players who have dominated one position and got to the twilight years of their career and shifted — I think we admire those ones that can take on a new role and show the world that they can play that one just as well.”

Adding to the occasion was most of Ablett’s teammates from the Cats’ 2009 premiership-winning outfit were on hand at GMHBA Stadium for a 10-year reunion to watch him torch the Eagles.

“They wouldn’t be all that surprised,” noted Scott. “His body is in good shape — which helps.

“He had a few hiccups early last year and even internally we can under-rate how difficult it is to reach the peak of your powers when you’re a little limited physically.

“The game is so tough now.

“It was tough 20 years ago but it’s nothing on what they have to deal with today.”

The big win over the Eagles took the Cats a game clear atop the ladder. Although they have benefited from a settled line-up through the opening six rounds, Scott all but guaranteed boom youngster Jordan Clark would return for next weekend’s clash against Essendon after being rested against West Coast.

AAP

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