News Offseason Staffing Changes - 2025 Edition

[Keys]

FYI - This is/was the 2025 coaching panel

• Senior Coach- Andrew McQualter

Andrew Mcqualter

Age

39

Ht

179cm

Wt

74kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

12.9

3star

K

5.6

2star

HB

7.2

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

3.6

5star

G

0.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

13.6

4star

K

7.6

3star

HB

6.0

4star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.4

4star

G

0.2

3star

• Midfield Coach - Jarrad Schofield

Jarrad Schofield

Age

50

Ht

178cm

Wt

80kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.0

4star

K

10.5

4star

HB

5.5

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.4

3star

No current season stats available

D

6.0

2star

K

3.4

2star

HB

2.6

3star

M

1.6

2star

T

0.8

3star

• Backline Coach - Luke Webster

Luke Webster

Age

43

Ht

186cm

Wt

91kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

11.2

3star

K

7.0

3star

HB

4.2

3star

M

4.0

4star

T

2.1

4star

No current season stats available

D

9.8

3star

K

6.6

3star

HB

3.2

3star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.0

4star

• Forwards Coach - Marco Bello
• Stoppage Coach - Luke Shuey

13

Luke Shuey

Age

35

Ht

184cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

23.7

5star

K

13.0

5star

HB

10.7

5star

M

3.3

3star

T

4.9

5star

CL

5.6

5star

D

18.7

4star

K

10.8

4star

HB

7.8

4star

M

2.8

3star

T

2.7

4star

CL

4.3

5star

D

17.0

5star

K

9.2

4star

HB

7.8

5star

M

3.0

3star

T

2.8

5star

CL

1.4

4star

• Ruck Coach - Ryan Turnbull

• Head of Development - Jamie Maddocks
• Development Manager - Steve Trewhella
• WAFL Coach - Kyal Horsley

Kyal Horsley

Age

38

Ht

182cm

Wt

89kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

16.6

4star

K

9.0

3star

HB

7.6

5star

M

3.2

3star

T

4.5

5star

CL

2.6

4star

No current season stats available

D

19.6

5star

K

11.6

4star

HB

8.0

5star

M

4.2

4star

T

7.2

5star

CL

3.0

5star

• Development Coach (Forwards) - Jacob Brennan

Jacob Brennan

Age

35

Ht

188cm

Wt

82kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.2

3star

K

7.4

3star

HB

2.8

2star

M

3.1

3star

T

2.6

4star

No current season stats available

D

9.2

3star

K

7.2

3star

HB

2.0

2star

M

2.6

3star

T

1.6

4star

• Development Coach (Game Fundamentals) - Shannon Hurn

25

Shannon Hurn

Age

38

Ht

187cm

Wt

95kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

20.9

5star

K

15.7

5star

HB

5.2

4star

M

7.0

5star

T

1.6

4star

MG

389.5

5star

D

16.1

4star

K

12.1

5star

HB

4.0

3star

M

5.3

5star

T

1.0

2star

MG

271.6

4star

D

19.0

5star

K

11.6

4star

HB

7.4

5star

M

6.8

5star

T

1.6

4star

• Indigenous Player Development Manager - Chance Bateman

Chance Bateman

Age

44

Ht

175cm

Wt

75kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

15.1

4star

K

8.8

3star

HB

6.3

4star

M

3.9

4star

T

2.1

4star

CL

1.1

3star

No current season stats available

D

18.6

5star

K

11.0

4star

HB

7.6

5star

M

4.6

5star

T

2.8

5star

CL

1.2

4star

• High Performance Manager - Mat Inness

New appointments for 2026:

• Sam Radford - Midfield Coach
• Mitch Duncan - Backline Coach
• Phil Merriman - High Performance Manager

 

[FKASC]

Will Freo be all over the amazing short term one?

Yep and they’ll win the next 4 flags

 

[Bender_]

Yep and they’ll win the next 4 flags

It will because of this imaginary fitness guy, Jamie Graham and Murphy Reid.

 

[FKASC]

It will because of this imaginary fitness guy, Jamie Graham and Murphy Reid.

Sack Puke

 

[WCErevival]

Freo getting David Goggins.

 

[amazingjoshy]

Bell talking up Merriman on ABC this morning. Did have the disclaimer that he hired him but essentially says he wouldve only left Freo for 2 reasons. Either money or a relationship breakdown, and knowing him well he highly doubts it was for money

Says WC players should prepare to run alot.

 

[Monocle]

Merriman worked with Burgess at Melbourne which is where the Arsenal reference comes from

Hawthorn 2011-17, Melbourne 2018-20, Fremantle 2021-25 and now West Coast

It’s a good resume. He will also understand WA conditions and the impact of travel so no need to learn how to deal with that

Doesn’t have to relocate either so no lag between this appointment and him getting to work

There’s a possibility that Fremantle letting him go has meant he fell into our lap to an extent but pleased we haven’t ****ed about finding a replacement for Inness

Plenty of reasons to be pissed at the club of late but this is a step in the right direction

This was my first thought he knows the added implications of a hefty travel impact.

Also like that he worked under Burgess at Melbourne, who is considered one of if not the best HPM in the AFL, he has done a great job at Adelaide transforming their fitness and ofcourse he was there at Melbourne in their Premiership season.

 

[Ambrose Burnside]

Says WC players should prepare to run alot.

Kelly to request a trade next.

 

[Byron_Clanger]

How the 'Head of Development' or anyone that's been in the development side of the club for years isn't in the gun boggles the mind.

Other than Waterman, Hough and THE BOY who has developed in the last 5 or 6 years?

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

How the 'Head of Development' or anyone that's been in the development side of the club for years isn't in the gun boggles the mind.

Other than Waterman, Hough and THE BOY who has developed in the last 5 or 6 years?

We hired a new head of development late in 2024, Jamie Maddocks from the Western Bulldogs.

Official AFL Website of the West Coast Eagles

The Official AFL Website of the West Coast Eagles

www.westcoasteagles.com.au

 

[Keys]

Bell talking up Merriman on ABC this morning. Did have the disclaimer that he hired him but essentially says he wouldve only left Freo for 2 reasons. Either money or a relationship breakdown, and knowing him well he highly doubts it was for money

Says WC players should prepare to run alot.

I only pay cursory attention to what Freo do in preseason, but it has struck me in previous years that from what I do see they seem do more simple running exercises without footballs than what I see us doing when I’ve watched our training sessions

We seem to get our running loads in during ball movement drills with sporadic sprints/laps thrown in. Very little sessions where I’ve seen significant amounts of repeat sprints or multiple laps

It will be interesting to see what the players are put through with not only a new fitness coach but also with McQualter planning a second preseason with a far better idea of what he has to work with and what needs to be done to improve

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

We seem to get our running loads in during ball movement drills with sporadic sprints/laps thrown in. Very little sessions where I’ve seen significant amounts of repeat sprints or multiple laps

I'm no expert, but I like this. You'd think combining skills training and ball movement (decision making) with tired legs could only serve us well when the real stuff comes around.

 

[Farmer Lister]

We seem to get our running loads in during ball movement drills with sporadic sprints/laps thrown in. Very little sessions where I’ve seen significant amounts of repeat sprints or multiple laps

It will be interesting to see what the players are put through with not only a new fitness coach but also with McQualter planning a second preseason with a far better idea of what he has to work with and what needs to be done to improve

For sure I went to heaps of preseason training sessions this year, it seems like the running was just mostly a short warm up before drills. I did see Graham, Hutchinson and Jamieson doing sprints one time that's about it.

 

[ziad]

I'm no expert, but I like this. You'd think combining skills training and ball movement (decision making) with tired legs could only serve us well when the real stuff comes around.

Often saw Cuz doing 400, 200 and 100 prinnts at McGilveray

 

[RustyShacklefordFalcon]

Often saw Cuz doing 400, 200 and 100 prinnts at McGilveray

Cuz wass more machine than man, incredible athlete

 

[Wild Kelly]

Often saw Cuz doing 400, 200 and 100 prinnts at McGilveray

Quite sure that was during his ban.

 

[Wooshaaaa]

I only pay cursory attention to what Freo do in preseason, but it has struck me in previous years that from what I do see they seem do more simple running exercises without footballs than what I see us doing when I’ve watched our training sessions

We seem to get our running loads in during ball movement drills with sporadic sprints/laps thrown in. Very little sessions where I’ve seen significant amounts of repeat sprints or multiple laps

It will be interesting to see what the players are put through with not only a new fitness coach but also with McQualter planning a second preseason with a far better idea of what he has to work with and what needs to be done to improve

Interesting. Does explain falling away the longer the game goes and why we struggled to temper oppo fast ball movement. We got cut up too easily, particularly late in quarters

I suspect he will be reluctant to come in and change everything in a radical way from the outset. Innis was successful at keeping our list health this year, particularly with soft tissue injuries. So the balance for him is going to be more repeat sprints to help us run out qtrs/games but not create a soft tissue crisis like the bombers had this year.

 

[Mop]

I suspect he will be reluctant to come in and change everything in a radical way from the outset. Innis was successful at keeping our list health this year, particularly with soft tissue injuries. So the balance for him is going to be more repeat sprints to help us run out qtrs/games but not create a soft tissue crisis like the bombers had this year.

You don't bring in Mat Innes to tear the plan up after two years. Surely.

Surely this is a work with and modify the plan gig, not tear it up.

 

[Keys]

Interesting. Does explain falling away the longer the game goes and why we struggled to temper oppo fast ball movement. We got cut up too easily, particularly late in quarters

I suspect he will be reluctant to come in and change everything in a radical way from the outset. Innis was successful at keeping our list health this year, particularly with soft tissue injuries. So the balance for him is going to be more repeat sprints to help us run out qtrs/games but not create a soft tissue crisis like the bombers had this year.

We were a young side and simply didn’t have the benefit of multiple preseasons in the bank like more experienced sides which is why we couldn’t sustain the effort

When Inness came to the club at the end of 2023 his first priority was getting a broken list back to something approaching healthy. There were a few casualties early in 2024 as he tried to build some resilience into the group but we had some good results that season

Last preseason he tried to build in a fitness base into the group without the contact pre Christmas that had been a feature of the previous year

I’m sure the plan will be to take the training up another level and McQualter’s message to the players to come back in shape was a sign of what’s to come

 

[Wooshaaaa]

You don't bring in Mat Innes to tear the plan up after two years. Surely.

Surely this is a work with and modify the plan gig, not tear it up.

Correct. However, our inability to keep up with speed of ball movement was a significant issue that can only be improved with repeat sprinting. The only way to get fast is to train fast. Don't get wrong ball drill specific trading is good but it's not sprint training.

 

[ziad]

Quite sure that was during his ban.

Earlier - even over Christmas

 

[ziad]

We were a young side and simply didn’t have the benefit of multiple preseasons in the bank like more experienced sides which is why we couldn’t sustain the effort

When Inness came to the club at the end of 2023 his first priority was getting a broken list back to something approaching healthy. There were a few casualties early in 2024 as he tried to build some resilience into the group but we had some good results that season

Last preseason he tried to build in a fitness base into the group without the contact pre Christmas that had been a feature of the previous year

I’m sure the plan will be to take the training up another level and McQualter’s message to the players to come back in shape was a sign of what’s to come

Ryan quickly assesed this and asked for a trade.

 

[Chris_6678]

Brad Hardie (epic source haha) mentioned on 6PR WC are trying to get Nic Nat back to the club to be the ruck coach but thinks he won't return.

BUT i swear he works at the club still and has done since 2023 in some role of some sort as you see him quite bit in the background in a polo and even sometimes travels with the team over East.

 

[bzparkes]

Brad Hardie (epic source haha) mentioned on 6PR WC are trying to get Nic Nat back to the club to be the ruck coach but thinks he won't return.

BUT i swear he works at the club still and has done since 2023 in some role of some sort as you see him quite bit in the background in a polo and even sometimes travels with the team over East.

Yep, NN works with the media team mostly.bseen him on the bench occasionally also.

 

[Dark Sharks]

Who else.

Who else but another recently retired player to go along with Shuey and Hurn

So Naitanui potentially replaces Turnball?

 

[Bender_]

Yep, NN works with the media team mostly.bseen him on the bench occasionally also.

We also have an academy named after him so he'd be showing up for related commitments.