Andrew McQualter’s rise from Traralgon to AFL senior coach ahead of Eagles debut

Andrew McQualter hasn’t forgotten his Traralgon roots. Ahead of his West Coast coaching debut on Sunday, Eliza Reilly looks back at the footballing career of ‘Mini’.

From Traralgon to the top of the AFL coaching ranks at West Coast, Andrew McQualter has never forgotten his roots.

Just ask Peter Francis, talent manager at the Gippsland Power when McQualter first turned up as a 13-year-old.

Selected by St Kilda with pick 17 in the 2004 National Draft, McQualter went on to play 89 games for the Saints and a further five at the Suns.

But Gippsland, specifically the club’s new indoor training facility, seemingly meant a lot to the man they call ‘Mini.’

Andrew McQualter will coach his first game for the Eagles on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

“We had life-size photos hung up of a lot of our drafted players, guys like Brendon Goddard, Scott Pendlebury, Jarryd Roughead and Dale Thomas,” Francis told this masthead. “When he was at St Kilda, Andrew has walked in and gone ‘That’s it Peter? What’s going on?’ I gave you five years! Pendlebury gives you one and he’s there. He’s a fly-by-nighter.’”

McQualter may not have reached the same heights as those who won a spot on the wall. But that doesn’t mean he failed to leave a lasting impact at Gippsland.

“He is the best Under-15s player we’ve ever had,” Francis said. “He was the best kid I’ve ever seen.

“He was a ferocious tackler. Even as a 14-year-old, he was an unbelievable player but he had an unbelievable football brain as a young boy.

“That football IQ shone through from the very early days. So did his leadership ability. He was a very popular person within the club. He was a really likeable kid.”

Since 1985, 14 AFL players have come from the Traralgon. The two most accomplished of them, Goddard and McQualter, were drafted within two years of each other.

The pair were thick as thieves, despite the age gap, and both went on to captain Caulfield Grammar’s First XVIII football team. Both were also widely tipped to have success at the next level.

“Brendon Goddard got drafted first,” McQualter’s first Gippsland coach and Essendon great Darren Bewick said. “I was new down to the region and all I kept hearing is ‘There’s another one coming through.’

“He struck me straight away. He was really coachable. He knew the game really well. There’s no bulldust with him.

“He was way above when it came to knowing what to do with and without the ball and our structures.”

McQualter always had high footy IQ. Picture: Getty Images

Traralgon locals still speak about the day McQualter showed up unannounced to a junior footy final when he was coaching at Richmond, returning the favour to the club that raised him.

An immensely talented youngster, McQualter was named All-Australian captain at 15. He also captained Vic Country at both under 16 and under 18 level.

Former Fitzroy rover Leon Harris coached McQualter on the national stage in 2003.

Vic Country won the National Carnival after beating South Australia in the final game of the series. McQualter, an underager that year, shouldn’t have been playing.

“He hurt his wrist in game two but refused to get an X-ray because he suspected there was a fracture,” Harris said. “So he played the last game regardless.

“I know him well because he’s one of my favourites. He was tough, hard and skilful. He had a great football IQ.”

That team contained the likes of Andrew Walker, Jordan Lewis, Troy Chaplin and Jed Adcock.

Walker won three straight premierships as co-coach of his hometown club Echuca in 2024. Lewis returned to Melbourne as a part-time coach following his retirement.

Chaplin is currently an assistant to Simon Goodwin at the Demons. Adcock is currently coaching the backline at North Melbourne.

“The way they played, you could tell they had great footy brains,” Harris said. “It doesn’t surprise me one bit that he’s (McQualter) gone into coaching.”

McQualter coaching the Eagles in pre-season. Picture: Getty Images

But first, he had to get himself drafted.

Described in a 2004 phantom draft as a “terrific, hard-at-it midfielder with great skills, vision and reads the game beautifully,” McQualter reportedly attracted interest from Essendon, Richmond, Collingwood, Sydney and coincidentally, West Coast.

Unfortunately, he received a heavy knock on the hip during Vic Country’s opening match of the National Championships and missed the remaining two games.

“He did everything in his power to try and get up to play,” Francis said. “It was a really bad corkie.

“I remember taking a small group of them down to St Kilda beach each morning to jump in the freezing cold water. He’d jump straight in. He led by example.

“He was a very physical player. As brave as they come. His leadership was on and off-field.”

Although he spent the majority of his season at Caulfield Grammar, McQualter still finished third in Gippsland Power’s best-and-fairest, despite playing just nine matches.

McQualter played 89 games at St Kilda. Picture: AAP Image/Martin Philbey

The top level wasn’t as kind. In fact, McQualter quickly learnt that footy can be cruel.

He played seven games in his debut season after debuting against the Eagles at Subiaco Oval in Round 8. He suited up 10 times in 2006 but the following year he was delisted despite still having a year to run on his contract.

St Kilda offered him a lifeline on the rookie list and he was reborn as a tagger under Ross Lyon. McQualter was promoted back to the Saints’ senior list at the end of 2008 and played in three losing grand finals in the next two years.

Then at the end of 2011, aged 25, he was delisted again, paving the way for him to join Gold Coast the following season.

He played five more games before realising he’d probably have more success as a coach.

McQualter started out at Richmond as a development coach cross-VFL player in 2014. He was promoted to midfield coach two years later and became an integral voice in Richmond’s triple-premiership dynasty.

Andrew McQualter during his stint with the Tigers. Picture: Getty Images

“He stayed in contact,” Bewick said. “He was coaching a boy at Richmond that I’d worked with and he got in touch to find out about them and what he could do to get the best out of them.

“He wants to know about people. He’s diligent in everything he does and he was like that as a player too.”

When Damien Hardwick quit midway through 2023, McQualter took over as interim coach and won seven games from 13 starts.

He was overlooked for the job, spent a year at Melbourne and now, he’s set to begin his next chapter as head coach of the Eagles.

“It’s massive for Gippsland football,” Francis said. “What he’s achieved as a player, an assistant coach and now becoming a head coach … we’re so proud

“I think the Eagles have an absolute beauty on their hands and hopefully he has an enormous amount of success.”

McQualter used to tease Hardwick for constantly tinkering with the team whiteboard months out from Round 1. Now, he’s privately admitted to his mentor a tendency to do the exact same thing as his senior coaching debut nears.

Time will tell whether McQualter can emulate the feats of Hardwick, now at the Suns. But the battle of master and apprentice adds extra weight to a new era of Eagle at Optus Stadium on Sunday.

“The overarching feeling I’ve got is excitement,” McQualter said. “I can’t wait.

“I spent 10 years working directly under him. I learnt a lot from him and spent a lot of time working with him. Clearly, he’s been really influential on me but he’s the enemy this week.

“Hopefully it’s one of many battles we have in the next few years.”

Originally published as Andrew McQualter’s rise from Traralgon to AFL senior coach ahead of Eagles debut