The 24-year-old signed a two-year contract extension on Thursday, which put him out of reach of potential suitors in his home state of South Australia as well as the Gold Coast Suns.
Eade said he always believed Griffen would follow midfielder and fellow South Australian Adam Cooney and recommit to the club this year.
“In my mind, there wasn’t much doubt. His mates had said he wasn’t going to go anywhere, he wanted to stay,” Eade told afl.com.au.
“He was buying property in Melbourne to live in so there were a whole range of factors and we knew he wanted to stay even though there were other people circling.
“We were confident he wanted to be part of the action going forward.”
Eade also believes the best is yet to come from the highly-rated youngster, who was drafted with pick No.3 in the 2004 draft.
“Some people accelerate really quickly and play their best football in their early 20s and then drop off but I think Ryan is one of those players who has steadily improved each season,” Eade said.
“This has been his best year so far, it’s been a real improvement on other years and he’s shown more consistency and that will only improve as we go along.”
Griffen said he never considered a return to South Australia despite reported interest from the Crows.
“Obviously there was a bit of speculation surrounding my future but I always intended to re-sign with the Western Bulldogs,” he told westernbulldogs.com.au.
“Since moving from South Australia I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here and I could not be happier to stay at the club.
“I honestly believe the club has a very bright future and I am very excited to continue to play my part in a period of sustained success for the club.”
Griffen has been named to take on Collingwood in Saturday night’s qualifying final despite suffering a knee injury on the weekend, and the Dogs will give him until the last possible moment to prove his fitness.
“He’s had a bit of a jog today and he’ll have another tomorrow and we’ll see how he pulls up Saturday morning,” Eade said.
“We’re confident he’ll play so fingers crossed.”
Defender Jarrod Harbrow’s future is still unknown with the promising Bulldog yet to recommit and the Suns reportedly interested in securing his services.
Eade said he remained optimistic the young Queenslander would reject advances and remain at Whitten Oval.
“We’re still hopeful Jarrod will stay and hopeful he can see there’s still some good future here and we’ll play finals footy for a few years,” he said.
“Hopefully he can be part of that.”
