It’s about the only thing missing in his distinguished AFL career but Gold Coast’s Rodney Eade says winning an AFL premiership as a coach isn’t what wakes him up in the morning.

Eade – a four-time premiership player with Hawthorn – will reach his 600th VFL/AFL game as a player or coach when the Suns host unbeaten North Melbourne on Saturday.

But the 58-year-old says coaching a team to a flag isn’t a burning desire, he just enjoys the challenges of developing and growing players and has no plans to walk away from the game in the near future.