Hayden Skipworth in consideration from West Coast Eagles for vacant coaching job

West Coast has been rebuffed by many high-profile candidates for their vacant coaching job, but MARK DUFFIELD reveals a former Bomber and Collingwood coach is being considered.

West Coast may yet have a left-field contender for its senior coaching position with indications Collingwood’s Hayden Skipworth was still being spoken to as recently as a week ago.

Skipworth, 41, had a short and injury-hampered football career at Adelaide where he played 44 games between 2001 and 2006. He played a further 11 games at Essendon in 2009, before retiring prematurely due to his injuries before embarking on a lengthy coaching career.

He was at Essendon up until the 2019 season before joining Collingwood where he has worked in a number of roles including as a line coach and also in list management.

Former Western Bulldogs senior coach Brendan McCartney, also a senior assistant at Geelong and Essendon and who worked alongside Skipworth at the Magpies, spoke glowingly of him.

It should be stressed that McCartney was not aware if Skipworth was a part of the Eagles’ coach selection process. But it is understood he was one of as many as eight people of interest contacted by the club as they sounded out potential contenders.

Hayden Skipworth, Brendon Bolton, Craig McRae and Justin Leppitsch after a win over Carlton in 2023. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

McCartney, who is about to embark on a fresh senior coaching journey with Port Melbourne in the VFL, labelled Skipworth a “really impressive coach”.

“He is concise and he knows how the game should look,” he said.

McCartney said another point in Skipworth’s favour was an extensive and at times tough range of life experience around his AFL coaching journey. He was, for example, at Essendon when much of the turmoil unfolded there in the wake of the supplements scandal and the ability to help manage a group through that was an experience which “stands you in good stead,” he said.

“With players, his delivery is good. He is very clear. But what impressed me most about him was his work in the coaches box under high pressure.”

McCartney said Skipworth had the capacity to reach and guide a wide range of players and he said this was clear from how he was able to get the best out of Collingwood’s midfielders including legends like Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom, but also mercurial types like Jordan De Goey and young guns like Nick and Josh Daicos.

Hayden Skipworth in 2019 as Essendon performance coach.

“It is a very highly evolved midfield with very high level players,” he said.

“There are all time greats and there are two or three extremely high calibre young players.”

“As the senior assistant there with Fly (Collingwood senior coach Craig McRae) he was driving a lot of the game style.”

McCartney said a coach had to learn how to be himself when standing in front of players speaking to them. Players were quick to spot those who weren’t authentic, he said: “He (Skipworth) is just him.”

“He is ready (to coach). Very much ready.”

The Eagles have remained tight lipped about their coach selection process so far with very little information spilling into the public arena.

What has spilled out has indicated that Geelong assistant Steven King and Melbourne assistant Andrew McQualter are both strong contenders for the position.

Key West Coast staff have spent the past week in Melbourne and are understood to have spoken to both because McQualter’s team is out of contention and King’s Geelong had earned a week off by winning their qualifying final.

Nick Daicos of the Magpies has a laugh with assistant coach Hayden Skipworth during todays training session in 2024. Picture: Michael Klein

GWS assistant Brett Montgomery – whose team is now also out – is also believed to be still part of the process, along with the Eagles interim coach for the last seven games of the season – Jarrad Schofield.

The Eagles’ ability to finalise their process and appoint Adam Simpson’s permanent successor will depend on whether Geelong wins its preliminary final this weekend against Brisbane to qualify for the grand final.

Eagles sources on Monday confirmed no announcement was likely this week when the club hosts its best and fairest – the John Worsfold Medal. The speed with which interviews could progress after this week would depend on match results, they said.

There is precedent at the club for waiting until season’s end. Simpson, who coached the Eagles to their 2018 premiership, did not do his final interview for the position until days after Hawthorn, where he was a senior assistant, had won the 2013 grand final.

But West Coast are also acutely aware that several recruiting and list management calls cannot be progressed until they have a new coach in place.

Originally published as Hayden Skipworth in consideration from West Coast Eagles for vacant coaching job