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News Offseason Staffing Changes - 2025 Edition

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FYI - This is/was the 2025 coaching panel

• Senior Coach- Andrew McQualter
• Midfield Coach - Jarrad Schofield ❌
• Backline Coach - Luke Webster ❌
• Forwards Coach - Marco Bello
• Stoppage Coach - Luke Shuey
• Ruck Coach - Ryan Turnbull ❌

• Head of Development - Jamie Maddocks
• Development Manager - Steve Trewhella
• WAFL Coach - Kyal Horsley
• Development Coach (Forwards) - Jacob Brennan
• Development Coach (Game Fundamentals) - Shannon Hurn
• Indigenous Player Development Manager - Chance Bateman

• High Performance Manager - Mat Inness ❌

New appointments for 2026:

• Sam Radford - Assistant Coach
• Mitch Duncan - Assistant/Development Coach
• Phil Merriman - High Performance Manager
 
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EaglesOz said:
Its only because of need in this case, he's quite happy with the Eagles. If he was from WA and working in Vic, it would reverse and he would be coming here. Its not a vAFL thing.
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Was mentioned in the media that his family stayed in Vic when he took the job here. They thought it would work with him returning to Vic every 2nd week or so with the team, almost like a FIFO situation, but it hasn't really worked as well as they'd hoped.

Edit: I just saw the post from Ryan Daniels has been posted, explains things I guess.
 
GenericUsername202 said:
Brisbane fan here, but why doesn't West Coast pay overs to bring the best people to the club? You can go over the soft cap if you're willing to pay the fine, and the eagles are the richest club in the league, which means you could easily afford the fine. I get you're at a disadvantage, but i feel like your club doesn't make the most of its resources, because in the end, money will always usually win. If i supported your club, i would be more annoyed at your club not being able to flex itself in this way more than your staff members leaving for other clubs.
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The problem is that it's an escalation system. You pay overs for one year you get fined, next year its increased based on previous year and this continues to increase. In addition, we have been over this year because we have had to pay out Simpson's residual contract amount. Most Soft cap contracts (Support Staff) are +3 Years, so you can tinker with it and be a but flexible, but it is also designed to ensure fair balance between the clubs and not allow the richer clubs to overpay and pull the best talent from others.

The second item is that we are the wealthiest by Asset and only 8th by Brand and 4th on Revenue (Brisbane from memory actually had a higher revenue last year. We also get the least amount of AFL distribution (1/3 of what Brisbane gets).
 

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Eagles farewell High Performance Manager​

Mathew Inness will depart the Eagles, returning home to Melbourne
By westcoasteagles.com.au
Sep 3, 2025, 9:07 am
2D0A3720.jpg

The West Coast Eagles’ High Performance Manager Mat Inness will farewell the club after two years in the role, returning home to Melbourne for family reasons.
Inness joined the Eagles ahead of the 2024 pre-season, after spending 12 seasons in the high-performance department at the Western Bulldogs.
Solidifying himself as a key pillar within the Eagles’ football department, Inness will be greatly missed amongst the staff and players, both on and off the field.
“To leave West Coast was such a tough decision to make as I’ve really enjoyed my time here over the past two seasons,” Inness said.
“The decision is based purely around being back with my family in Melbourne, it’s been tough on them and myself being away, and unfortunately, it’s not possible for them to relocate to Perth.
“West Coast has a really experienced and high-functioning High Performance department, and I truly believe they are well placed to continue to drive the playing group forward without me.”
West Coast Eagles General Manager of Football Gavin Bell praised Inness’ influence during his time at the Eagles, wishing him all the best for the future.
“Mat has made an incredible contribution to our club since his arrival, and is highly respected amongst the football department, staff and playing group,” Bell said.
“While we are incredibly sad to see him go, we understand and support Mat’s request to return home for family reasons.
“Mat’s expertise and experience has had an enormous impact in our high performance department, and we wish him and his family well for the future.”
 
Why is Innes so highly regarded and how did he achieve his success? Why can’t it be replicated from home grown products here in WA.

Devils advocate - WA tertiary education and research is behind
Opportunities for growth in WA is limited. WA experts leave for opportunities in other locations.

End of the day talent identification for on and off-field plus retention is something within our control. Is retention an issue. If it is, also something within our control to an extent if related to internal operations, pay, conditions, people and culture.
 
GenericUsername202 said:
Brisbane fan here, but why doesn't West Coast pay overs to bring the best people to the club? You can go over the soft cap if you're willing to pay the fine, and the eagles are the richest club in the league, which means you could easily afford the fine. I get you're at a disadvantage, but i feel like your club doesn't make the most of its resources, because in the end, money will always usually win. If i supported your club, i would be more annoyed at your club not being able to flex itself in this way more than your staff members leaving for other clubs.
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Because the tax rate is obscene.

Screenshot_20250903_125901_Reddit.jpg
What does WCE reasonably need to attract better off-field talent? $250k would be what, one assistant coach?

If we pay old mate $250k in salary on a 3 year contract over the soft cap, we also pay the AFL an additional:
  • $375k in the first year
  • $562.5k in the second year
  • $750k in the third year +

Over 3 years we get $750k worth of talent for the cost of $2.43m.

Also what does the AFL do with those tax dollars? Redistributes it into regions that aren't WA 🌈
 
GenericUsername202 said:
Brisbane fan here, but why doesn't West Coast pay overs to bring the best people to the club? You can go over the soft cap if you're willing to pay the fine, and the eagles are the richest club in the league, which means you could easily afford the fine. I get you're at a disadvantage, but i feel like your club doesn't make the most of its resources, because in the end, money will always usually win. If i supported your club, i would be more annoyed at your club not being able to flex itself in this way more than your staff members leaving for other clubs.
Click to expand...

Yeah let’s just piss money up against the wall

The tax for exceeding the soft cap is designed to prevent exactly what you’re suggesting

Keep in mind too that approximately half our profits go to the WAFC (who own the Eagles license) to help fund WA football so a luxury tax paid to the AFL reduces that funding source

So, in short, your idea is ****ing stupid
 
GenericUsername202 said:
Brisbane fan here, but why doesn't West Coast pay overs to bring the best people to the club? You can go over the soft cap if you're willing to pay the fine, and the eagles are the richest club in the league, which means you could easily afford the fine. I get you're at a disadvantage, but i feel like your club doesn't make the most of its resources, because in the end, money will always usually win. If i supported your club, i would be more annoyed at your club not being able to flex itself in this way more than your staff members leaving for other clubs.
Click to expand...

Because the club owners the WAFC will never allow us to go over the softcap as it dimishes the distribution they get paid out of the clubs profits. It will never happen.
 
This news is a kick in the nuts.

While I knew it was a strong possibility of eventuating, it’s still is a pain in the arse now having it confirmed.

%#^^#^^

Now I will be accused of being a very old and grumpy vindictive prick ( and that’s all true ) - happy to own that.

He has a contract and I would pay him for the remainder of his contract ( knowing that he won’t be working for us ) BUT simultaneously, preclude and block him from plying his trade at Essendon.

James Turd 💩 keeps banging on about why the richest Club in the land doesn’t flex its financial muscles.
How do you like those apples shithead.

I can’t see anything illegal about that as we would be still paying him.

Why should we have a weakened Department and have to watch an opposition Club improve by poaching our IN CONTRACT staff.

On another front I would also be flagging this in front of the AFL, as just another one of the difficulties of attracting and holding non playing staff.
When opposition Clubs poach in contract key personnel.
Player who break contracts need to have a negotiate compensated settlement, I can’t see why it’s shouldn’t apply to off field staff also.

Don’t let an opportunity go by with out shoving it up to City Hall.
They created and uphold the system a little re-write and tweak wouldn’t go astray.
Of coarse that’s basing it on the assumption that the vAFL actually want an equitable playing field for all Clubs regardless of the geographical location.

And yes I do know that Father Christmas isn’t true.
 

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Monocle said:
This news is a kick in the nuts.

While I knew it was a strong possibility of eventuating, it’s still is a pain in the arse now having it confirmed.

%#^^#^^

Now I will be accused of being a very old and grumpy vindictive prick ( and that’s all true ) - happy to own that.

He has a contract and I would pay him for the remainder of his contract ( knowing that he won’t be working for us ) BUT simultaneously, preclude and block him from plying his trade at Essendon.

James Turd 💩 keeps banging on about why the richest Club in the land doesn’t flex its financial muscles.
How do you like those apples shithead.

I can’t see anything illegal about that as we would be still paying him.

Why should we have a weakened Department and have to watch an opposition Club improve by poaching our IN CONTRACT staff.

On another front I would also be flagging this in front of the AFL, as just another one of the difficulties of attracting and holding non playing staff.
When opposition Clubs poach in contract key personnel.
Player who break contracts need to have a negotiate compensated settlement, I can’t see why it’s shouldn’t apply to off field staff also.

Don’t let an opportunity go by with out shoving it up to City Hall.
They created and uphold the system a little re-write and tweak wouldn’t go astray.
Of coarse that’s basing it on the assumption that the vAFL actually want an equitable playing field for all Clubs regardless of the geographical location.

And yes I do know that Father Christmas isn’t true.
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If that's the case, why pay him out at all?

As Miguel Sanchez has said, "he would have a non-compete" clause in his contract, so he can't work for another AFL club if he leaves.

So we can either say "stay and commit to your contract or walk away".
 
Tugga27 said:
If that's the case, why pay him out at all?

As Miguel Sanchez has said, "he would have a non-compete" clause in his contract, so he can't work for another AFL club if he leaves.

So we can either say "stay and commit to your contract or walk away".
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Why would we be paying him out to begin with?

He's the one breaking contract, so we just wouldn't pay him the third year.
 
It is a pain in the arse as cost to find and replace is high but we may have hired knowing his family was staying behind. Not passing up on getting Innes in. If we were smart we would build up his knowledge and processes in house
 
Tugga27 said:
As Miguel Sanchez has said, "he would have a non-compete" clause in his contract, so he can't work for another AFL club if he leaves.
Click to expand...
Not a lawyer, but I thought non-compete clauses weren't generally worth the paper they were written on.

Would be nearly impossible for people to move jobs if they were.
 

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Very disappointing news and again, an example of the challenge we face in attracting and keeping quality staff (not from WA).

EaglesOz said:
Even better, if the Eagles take the obvious option/replacement presented to them on a platter, it will be an upgrade. And Inness is good, not many better.
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Are you referring to Paul Turk who came onboard at the end of 2023? If so, does seem like he would be capable of stepping up (based upon his work history etc.) 😀
 
Very weird situation given he moved over without his family. How did anyone think that was going to work?

Setting up and maintaining a high performance program takes years to get going so I find it nuts that both him and the club were happy to just give it a go knowing full well it would almost certainly be a short term job.
 
Keys said:
Mitchell left after two years citing family reasons

Knights left after three years citing family reasons

Inness now leaving after two years citing family reasons

Hansen ruled himself out of the senior coaching position citing family reasons

Fremantle have experienced similar issues, most recently with Bob Murphy returning to Victoria after a short stint in WA

Both WA clubs are at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting and retaining off field staff because the available pool of talent is significantly diminished. The reduction in the soft cap hasn’t helped as it’s forced clubs to pay staff below their true worth making a move interstate even less attractive

Pisses me off when we’ve found a good operator and one of our best appointments in recent times at an important time in our rebuild
Click to expand...
At the very least, this is the sort of thing that the club can present to the AFL when asking for concessions. If you're going to give the NSW/Qld clubs a sweetheart deal with priority access to academy prospects, then it's pretty easy to argue that between the toll on the body of travelling across the country every second week and the long distance from where much of the footy talent (players, coaches, staff, etc) is based, that the WA clubs are put at a competitive disadvantage due to their geographic isolation and should get some sort of concession like an expanded soft cap to more effectively recruit and retain top talent who will otherwise just stay in Vic.
 
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This is a soft cap problem. Pure and simple.

In the upper management corporate world, when your employee says " we need you in Singapore" and here is free housing, free private schooling for your kids and a fat bonus, you take it, BC if you don't the person next you will snap it up and move up the ladder. People move to where they don't necessarily want to live forever, based on climbing the ladder or the cash.

With 10 teams in melbourne, they don't need to move the family and have enough competition for there service.

It's the same with the assistant coaches.

The fact the AFL have there head in the sand is infuriating.
 
Mr Q said:
Not a lawyer, but I thought non-compete clauses weren't generally worth the paper they were written on.

Would be nearly impossible for people to move jobs if they were.
Click to expand...

Broadly, they’re enforceable to the extent that they’re reasonable, and what’s reasonable will depend on the circumstances.

For someone in Inness’ position, it may well be reasonable to restrain him from taking a similar position in one of our 17 direct competitors for the next 12 months. That wouldn’t preclude him taking a job in another elite sport.

It sounds like we’re not holding him to his contract anyway, so it’s all a moo point.
 

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