Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade slams NAB Challenge fixture on 3AW

Gold Coast coach Rodney Eade has hit out at the NAB Challenge fixture, saying it makes no sense his Suns have to play in Perth this weekend.

Eade is anything but happy his club has been scheduled to play West Coast on the other side of the country on Thursday, given the Suns will head there again to face Fremantle in Round 2.

Eade said the Suns would be fielding a severely weakened squad this weekend because of the travel.

‘It’s strange how the NAB Challenge is set up, when there’s nothing hanging on it, as such, that we’ve got to go to Western Australia,’ Eade said on Sports Today.

‘It’s a six-hour flight from here.’

Eade said it would be logical for the Perth teams to play their practice matches against the South Australian clubs under the new format, with the two Queensland teams to clash with their Sydney counterparts.

He said Victorian clubs could then be scheduled against each other – eliminating as much travel as possible.

‘I just think it makes sense,’ Eade explained.

‘I don’t think the people who organise the NAB draw actually talk to the people who worked out the main AFL draw.’

Click PLAY below to hear Rodney Eade’s thoughts on 3AW