RODNEY Eade has heard the analogy before. It is something to do with thinking he had been handed the keys to a Ferrari only to find it was a clapped-out Holden.

The second-year Gold Coast coach passed through Melbourne on the weekend on his way back from the NAB Challenge game in Perth to spread the message that the gig with the Suns was not the gilt-edged job it was made out to be, but nor was the year the complete disaster it was portrayed as being.

The Suns are in capable hands. This year marks the 20th anniversary of Eade's first year as a senior coach, when he took the Sydney Swans from outside the eight into their first Grand Final in 51 years.

Before that he coached both the Brisbane Bears and North Melbourne to reserves premierships, which came after playing 229 games with Hawthorn and 30 with the Bears, including four flags with the Hawks. So he has been around the block a few times and went into the job with the Suns with his eyes wide open.

"There were things that needed to be done, and like anything you need to recalibrate. We didn't chase short-term wins, but instead laid the foundations and started building from there," he said.

Apart from Alastair Clarkson, who played under John Kennedy Snr at North Melbourne, Eade is the only remaining coach with direct links back to the old Hawthorn coaching dynasty of Kennedy, David Parkin and Allan Jeans. They are godfathers not just of Hawthorn, but of coaching and while the mechanics of the game have changed, many of the overarching philosophies have not.

"The more the game changes, the more it stays the same," he said. "You still have to win the ball, you have to do something with it and you still have to try to get it back as quickly as you can by putting pressure on the other team.

"Obviously who you're talking to changes massively over the years but there are still a lot of philosophies that still apply. I was very fortunate to have those three men."

Perhaps because he has been in the game for so long, Eade took a rational and hard-headed approach to 2015, during which injuries and a string of off-field issues shredded the Suns and restricted them to just four wins and a draw.

"I've had more stressful years. I think being more experienced and at my age (57), you're not so worried about the contract and you know you have another two years, so you can stick to your beliefs and do it your own way."

The first nine weeks of the season in which things derailed on and off the field did cause Eade to momentarily consider whether he had done the right thing. Seemingly done with coaching when he finished with the Western Bulldogs during 2011, he was working as director of football at Collingwood when the Suns came calling.

He was settled, his wife had a business of her own and their daughter was about to start her final year of school. Did he really want to upset the family applecart?

"I'm not sure regret's the right word, but I did ask myself why I'm doing this," he said of those first few weeks of last season. "My life was enjoyable, I liked Collingwood and I worked with good people and it was close to home … all sorts of things.

"But I was there to do a job and I'm enjoying it."

Those who have known Eade over the journey saw how the bitter end in 2002 to his time in Sydney consumed him, and there was also the disappointment when he left the Bulldogs, having put his heart and soul into the club. The Dogs made three straight preliminary finals between 2008 and 2010 and he still considers the 2009 team, under-resourced and bereft of genuine superstars, as the best team he has coached.

There are times when Eade can be quite caustic in defeat, but that changed in 2015 as the losses mounted on the Gold Coast. Pragmatism became the key narrative.

"Last year was probably the most positive I've been towards a team that was getting beaten consistently. The effort after 10 weeks was a positive," he said.

Eade enters this season having coached 336 games. Only 17 people in League history have coached more games but what they have over him is that they all have at least one premiership to their name.

It is a statistic that doesn't eat away at him as it might some others. Perhaps it is the four flags he pocketed as a player with the Hawks, but he can't quite put a finger on why.

"If I finish in footy and I haven't won one, it won't burn me," he said. "I'm driven and I hope I do win one, but I'm not going to be sitting in a corner rocking back and forward if I don't."

Brisbane Lions players leave the field in murky Mackay. Picture: AFL Media

It never rains but it pours

The cancellation of Sunday's Brisbane Lions-St Kilda game in Mackay brought to a slightly premature end to the first part of the NAB Challenge. Shame for the locals that the weather killed the game, but hey, memo to the AFL - fixture matches for north Queensland in the middle of the wet season at your peril!

Still, these first three weeks of the NAB Challenge have been almost an unqualified success. Some of the pictures from rural and suburban venues have been outstanding. My favourite would be the shot behind the goals at Mount Barker last week, from which you could see right through the front door of a house across the road from the ground, straight into someone's kitchen.

Talk about taking the game to the people.

Old-style footy at Mount Barker. Picture: AFL Media

After mucking around in recent years with round-robins, shortened games and 18 games in 18 days, the AFL has found the right formula for pre-season footy with three weeks of exhibition-type games and one weekend for proper dress rehearsals.

It gets a bit more serious now, with every team in action and venues such as Etihad Stadium, Metricon Stadium and Domain Stadium being used for the first time this year. Indeed, all nine games next weekend are at regular AFL venues.

Clubs will field stronger line-ups, play the standard four 20-minute quarters with time-on and with the new 90-interchange cap coming into play. The only concession to the pre-season will be six on the bench.

Far and away, it will be the most illustrative weekend of the pre-season.

What we learned from the third weekend

Nevertheless, there were a few takeaways from this third weekend of the NAB Challenge.

  • Nathan Vardy looked good. The big Cat has played just 24 matches in four seasons after hip and knee injuries. Three games at the end of last season including a three-goal outing in round 23 against Adelaide gave the Cats a glimpse of what they've missed. He kicked four against Essendon on Saturday at Shepparton and while the Bombers were generally pretty poor, the options for the Cats, with Vardy and Zac Smith playing tall, and Mark Blicavs as a mobile midfielder, are pretty tantalising.
  • Collingwood continues to look very sound. The Pies are batting deep through the midfield and still have Dane Swan and Adam Treloar to add to the group that played against North on Saturday. Swan is shaping as more likely to play out of the forward line while the noticeably bulkier Scott Pendlebury might see more time there as well. The Pies take on the Western Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon at Etihad in what shapes as the pick of next weekend's NAB Challenge games.
  • Talk to people around the AFL who watch other clubs closely and the question about the Sydney Swans in 2016 is whether they will adequately replace the run out of the back half with Nick Malceski, Rhyce Shaw and Lewis Jetta all gone within 12 months. Granted, Jarrad McVeigh hasn't played yet this year, but there were times on Friday night where the Swans were carved up by the lively Greater Western Sydney at Drummoyne. The Swans still look good in most parts of the ground, but will they have the leg speed to contend in 2016?
  • A severely-undermanned Bulldogs line-up did well on Sunday, pushing a much stronger Melbourne side to within 12 points at Craigieburn. The bright spot of course was the first competitive match in 12 months for Tom Liberatore, the 2014 club champion who wrecked his knee this time last year and didn't play all season. Liberatore had 16 touches, but the key statistic was his 10 tackles, which suggests he might get back to his best sooner rather than later and add further to the excitement around Luke Beveridge's side.