BREAKING: West Coast set to announce new Demons assistant as ...
West Coast have officially announced Andrew McQualter as the club’s new men’s senior coach, replacing premiership mastermind Adam Simpson.
The ABC’s Brett Sprigg first reported the news early on Monday morning, with the Eagles confirming McQualter edged out the likes of Hayden Skipworth, Stephen King and interim coach Jarrad Schofield for the top role.
The Eagles wanted to announce their new appointment before the grand final, but have nonetheless managed to do so before the start of this year’s trade period.
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McQualter was an assistant coach at Melbourne during the 2024 season, having previously acted as Richmond’s interim coach last year after Damien Hardwick’s resignation.
The Eagles first sent out text messages to members confirming Spriggs’ initial report, before releasing a club statement on their website.
“We believe Andrew has the professional and personal qualities and experience required to guide our team. We are excited to have someone of his calibre leading our football program forward,” West Coast chief executive Don Pyke said in the statement.
“We were in a fortunate position where we had three exceptional candidates short-listed with Andrew possessing the credentials and vision needed to help us make strong progress.
“Andrew has a firm vision of what needs to be done and is ready to embrace the opportunity of being an AFL senior coach.
“I have been working towards this moment for the last 10 years and I’m thrilled to be appointed as coach of the West Coast Eagles,” McQualter said via the same club statement.
“I am aware that there is much work to do and I am definitely up for that.
“There is some exciting young talent at the club with a mix of outstanding players and I couldn’t be more excited to get over there and get to work with them.”
McQualter will move permantently across to Western Australia with his family in the coming months.
The club will hold a press conference on Monday afternoon confirming his appointment.
