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Geelong assistant coach Steven King is the new frontrunner to coach West Coast in 2025, according to former Eagle Will Schofield.
The 45-year old has spent more than a decade as an assistant coach at first St Kilda (2010-11), then the Western Bulldogs (2012-21), where he was involved in the club’s drought-breaking 2016 premiership and 2021 grand final berth, and then Gold Coast (2022-23), where he stood in for Stuart Dew as caretaker coach after his sacking midway through 2023.
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A decorated ruckman who was All-Australian in 2000 and won VFL and AFL premierships with Geelong within a week in 2007, King is now the ‘number one target’ for the Eagles, according to Schofield, who have seen former club greats Dean Cox, Jaymie Graham and Ashley Hansen all turn down overtures to replace the sacked Adam Simpson at the helm in 2025.
“He’s the man that I’m hearing is the number one target for the West Coast Eagles,” Schofield said of King on Fox Footy’s AFL Tonight.
“His resume – there’s not a lot more that he could have done. He’s coached across four clubs, he’s been a captain at a football club, he’s a best and fairest winner, and he’s a premiership player.
“He’s been coaching – he’s got the experience that others on that list don’t have, and I think he’s the guy that West Coast wants.
“King would be the number one guy for mine… I don’t think they’re looking at anyone else.”
Schofield expects King’s appointment to be confirmed once the Cats’ September campaign is done, with Chris Scott’s team set to play Port Adelaide in their qualifying final on Thursday night.
Among the other contenders for the Eagles job, according to reports, are Western Bulldogs assistant Brendon Lade, Melbourne assistant and 2023 Richmond caretaker coach Andrew McQualter and current Eagles caretaker Jarrad Schofield.
Steven King has emerged as a frontrunner to coach West Coast in 2025. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Star Carlton forward Charlie Curnow appears set to miss the Blues’ blockbuster elimination final clash with Brisbane on Saturday night, with the two-time Coleman Medallist still hampered by an ankle injury.
Curnow limped from the field during the Blues’ disastrous Round 22 loss to Hawthorn and missed the final two home-and-away matches, costing him any chance at a third consecutive Coleman.
Nearly four weeks on, the dual All-Australian was still restricted to light drills only at the Blues’ Wednesday training session, and appears more unlikely than likely to make the trip to the Gabba, according to the Herald Sun.
Curnow was set to be one of a swathe of stars returning from injury for the do-or-die final, with Adam Cerra (hamstring), Tom De Koning (foot), Jack Martin (hamstring), Mitch McGovern (hamstring), Harry McKay (quad) and Zac Williams (hamstring) all vying to prove their fitness on Thursday before teams are named that evening.
The Blues have already confirmed veteran Sam Docherty will make a fairytale return against the Lions, having not played since rupturing his ACL against the same team back in Opening Round.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360, former great Jack Riewoldt suggested Curnow’s absence could have a positive impact on the Blues, saying his loss would make them more unpredictable in attack.
“They were a different side without Charlie Curnow with the way they move the ball,” Riewoldt said.
“If McKay gets there and gets up, they’ve got someone to kick long down the line to – they didn’t have that against the Saints in that Round 24 loss.
“Maybe there’s a different dynamic here… it just gives them a different avenue and a different look going forward.
“They can become very key forward-centric with the way they use the ball. There’ll be a lot on their smaller forwards… you think of Williams and Martin, in particular, they’re going to come in and play a massive role, and De Koning is huge in terms of the contest battle and actually getting it into stoppage.”
Kane Cornes has questioned AFLW star Tayla Harris’ preparation for the 2024 season, after the Melbourne forward’s season was ended by a serious shoulder injury in their Round 1 win over Geelong.
Harris reaggravated a pre-season dislocated shoulder with a series of knocks against the Cats, with the Demons opting to send her in for surgery, which will rule her out for the remainder of the season.
Speaking on SEN’s Sportsday, Cornes was critical of the 27-year old’s preparation for the season, having previously questioned her presence at the 2024 Olympics in Paris just weeks out from the Dees’ season opener.
“This just could be bad luck with this shoulder injury, but you’d have to question, as I did at the time, whether she had prepared her body as best as she possibly could to withstand the rigours of a short AFLW season,” Cornes said.
“The answer to that is no… I can hardly imagine the lack of hours Tayla Harris has spent at the Melbourne Football Club this AFLW season, and now she’s out for the year.
“She can’t be serious and she’s not serious.”
The injury isn’t the only one Harris has suffered since returning for the Olympics, injuring a quad in August, though not severely enough to rule her out of the season opener.
“She was overseas only a few weeks before the season, she was in Paris. She comes back, she rips her quad, so she has a week off there, then they say she’s fit for Round 1,” Cornes said.
“She has two possessions and hurts her shoulder, and now she’s out for the season.
“I get you can’t help injuries, and even if she had done a full pre-season, she chould have got injuries – so spare me the Twitter notifications on that one – but she’s just not taking it seriously.”
Cornes also questioned the professionalism of other AFLW players, mentioning Richmond star Monique Conti featuring for the Melbourne Boomers in the WNBL during the Tigers’ off-season.
“I see Mon Conti playing dual sports… it’s very likely you could get injured and miss the AFLW season,” he said.
“What if that happened? That’s a possibility, and there’s no way we would allow a men’s player to play basketball in the off-season.
“I just wonder whether players who now got what they wanted with a huge pay increase – and the two that I reference [Harris and Conti] would be on $100,000+ a year, I would guess, but we don’t know because it’s not public.
“Are they taking it seriously?”
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