Only a matter of days after publicly confirming he would coach Cessnock again in 2020, Todd Edwards has announced he will quit at the end of the season, sighting dysfunctional management as the reason for his sudden back-flip.
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Edwards broke the news of his decision to walk away from the job to Goannas president Darrell Wilkinson on Thursday night. He told his players at training 24 hours later,
He said criticism from "other board members" after he revealed in the Newcastle Herald last week that he had accepted the coaching job again next season was the "final straw".
"There was criticism of me in an email that members of the executive weren't happy about me going public with the news that I was coaching again for another year because supposedly they weren't told about it," Edwards said. "But 10 days before I said anything, the president addressed all the players at training to let them know the four coaches from this year would all be going around again next year because of how happy they are with the way it's going. I assumed that the rest of the board was aware of it so when I was asked about it, I answered that I was doing it again.
"There are no lines of communication here. When the president can't let his executive know about a decision like that, there is something wrong. That was it for me. There's been a few things that have happened already this season and it's just dysfunctional the way the club is run. I can't deal with it any more. I've just had enough of how poorly a lot of things have been managed."
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Edwards said he is not surprised at the "complete lack of stability" at the club.
"There has been seven coaches in seven years here so that tells you plenty," he said. "Last year, Cessnock won a total of nine games in five grades for the entire season and finished last in the club championship. Now we are running third. I love coaching and I love the club and I'm walking away with no job to go to because of how it's run."
Reserve grade coach Alec Fata has been approached to coach next season.
Wilkinson could not be reached for comment early last night.
