West Coast closing in on new coach as top contender Hayden Skipworth arrives in Perth
West Coast are closing in on deciding on their next coach, with top contender Hayden Skipworth arriving in Perth today.
Skipworth follows Geelong assistant and fellow hopeful Steven King in heading to WA to continue extensive interviews at the club.
There is an industry belief that the replace to succeed Adam Simpson is down to three — Skipworth, King and Andrew McQualter.
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“I’m not sure where that sits at the moment, just looking to get over there, meet the panel and see where that takes us,” King told Channel 10 at Melbourne Airport.
“To be honest, I guess it’s a lot of hard work I’ve done over the years, it’s something I have always aspired to do and I’m in a really fortunate position where it’s close to becoming a reality.”
King is a former caretaker coach at Gold Coast, having stepped up last year in the final seven games after the Suns sacked Stuart Dew.
He returned to the Cattery — where he played 193 games — at the start of this year to be a midfield coach under Chris Scott.
Skipworth is the line coach at Collingwood after a strong apprentiship at several clubs including Essendon where he worked under West Coast great John Worsfold.
McQualter was the caretaker coach at Richmond last year when Damien Hardwick stepped away, but missed out on the full-time role to Adem Yze.
He is now an assistant at Melbourne.
West Coast will hold their club champion award dinner tonight at Crown Perth.
