Rodney Eade

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Just days after the Suns were defeated by Melbourne in Round 20. the club announced that Coach Rodney Eade's contract would not be extended. Eade was told by the board on the Monday following the Suns' loss. The board voted unanimously not to retain Eade who decided not to see out the year. Assistant coach Dean Solomon will take the reins for the final games.

By Boris Kilpatrick, special to AFANA from Australia

There are just three rounds of the regular season remaining, and the make up of the final eight remains on a knife edge. A big win by the Adelaide Crows over crosstown rivals Port Adelaide has put the Crows six points clear at the top of the table, setting them up for two home finals and Premiership favoritism. The other big stories to come from round 19 were the Greater Western Sydney Giants back on track and looking primed for a big run into September, the Geelong Cats are stumbling, and the Richmond Tigers look to have confirmed an unlikely finals spot just a year after being in crisis.

1.    Adelaide Crows (Last time - 1)
The Crows have established themselves as clear premiership favorites after demolishing fellow finals aspirants and crosstown foes the Port Power by 84 points at Adelaide Oval on Sunday afternoon.

2.    Greater Western Sydney Giants (3)

by Boris Kilpatrick, special to AFANA from Australia

The Giants just hold off a rampaging Adelaide Crows this week in top spot due to a gutsy road win over in Perth against the West Coast Eagles. The Crows crushed Fremantle to stay firmly on the Giants heels in the race for number one in the AFANA AFL power poll.

1.    Greater Western Sydney Giants (Last Week - 1)

by Boris Kilpatrick, special to AFANA from Australia

The Power Poll returns after a few weeks hiatus as Boris was on assignment for another media outlet.

1.    Greater Western Sydney Giants (Last Time - 2)
Some might point to a narrow victory at home over Collingwood and say the Giants were lucky. Deeper examination shows a team that played two players short for most of the game and three players short for the final quarter who found a way to win. A long injury list hasn’t stopped the Giants from winning. Expect a lot more.

Rick Browner reporting for AFANA from Domain Stadium, Perth

With a twelve goal burst in the third quarter, the West Coast Eagles delivered the highest score in any quarter in the club’s history and put the stranglehold on a one-sided Round 7 game against the Gold Coast Suns at Domain Stadium. The game was played in wet conditions and it wasn’t long before the Eagles put their winning stamp on the game.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

To coincide with the 25th anniversary of the club's entry into the AFL, the Adelaide Crows held their first Hall Of Fame induction on April 29. The inductees were two-time premiership coach Malcolm Blight, former chairmen Bob Hammond and Bill Sanders, former captain and current board member Mark Ricciuto and fellow club champions Andrew McLeod, Ben Hart, Tony Modra and Simon Goodwin.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

The Western Bulldogs have appointed Luke Beveridge as senior coach for the next three years. Beveridge has been the back line coach at Hawthorn for the past three years and was set to become director of coaching at St Kilda. Assistant coach Brett Montgomery was an early favorite, but his bid was unsuccessful. Beveridge will not be making any changes to the current coaching panel. Following a systematic and thorough process, Beveridge received the unanimous endorsement of the selection committee, led by Chris Grant and included Chief Executive Simon Garlick, John Worsfold, Luke Darcy and GM Football Graham Lowe. The recommendation of the sub-committee was unanimously endorsed by the club board. The committee was assisted by a recruitment consulting firm.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

The  Magpies have lured Neil Balme back to the club as their new Director of Football to replace Rodney Eade, now coaching Gold Coast. Balme has spent the past eight years as General Manager at Geelong.  He previously worked at Collingwood as General Manager 2002-2006 before crossing to the Cats.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Just weeks after his resignation as the Western Bulldogs' senior coach, Brendan McCartney was appointed development and strategy coach with the Melbourne Demons. He joins Brett Allison, Brad Miller and newly appointed full-time Casey coach Justin Plapp, in Melbourne’s development team for 2015. He will remain in that role until assistant coach Simon Goodwin takes over from Paul Roos in 2017 as senior coach, at which time he will move into a mentor and management role.

In making the announcement, football operations manager Josh Mahoney said the club was delighted to have McCartney on board. “He has a proven record and reputation in developing players and his appointment adds valued experience to our development program ... Simon has previously worked with Brendan ... at Essendon and identified him as the ideal candidate ... to assist his transition into senior coaching."