Collingwood has added cross-code experience and expertise to its football department with the appointment of Jarrod Wade to the position of High Performance Manager.

Wade joins the club with over 14 years’ experience within high performance programs, most recently as Head of High Performance with the NRL’s South Sydney Rabbitohs.

Wade was with the Rabbitohs for five years and with the Parramatta Eels for a season before that.

Before crossing to the NRL, Wade spent almost a decade in the AFL system, with four years at Essendon and five years at Geelong in a variety of high performance and sport science roles.

Collingwood GM of Football, Graham Wright, welcomed Wade to the program.

“We are pleased to welcome Jarrod who will oversee the design and implementation of our AFL high performance program,” Wright said.

“Jarrod has experience working within high performance teams, a strong research background and ideas drawn from multiple sports. We think he will be an excellent addition to our program.”

The news of Wade’s appointment follows the recent appointments of Brendon Bolton as Director of Coaching and Justin Leppitsch as Head of Strategy earlier this week.

Wade will join the program once his commitments with the South Sydney Rabbitohs conclude.