Former Richmond administrator Neil Balme says he is pleased former Richmond assistant Andrew McQualter received the West Coast senior coach position and would have been happy to have him at Richmond.

The search for a new head coach came to a close on Monday morning after West Coast announced McQualter would be joining the club on a three year deal. 

Speaking to SportFM, Balme, who crossed paths with McQualter from 2017 onwards, has faith McQualter has the qualities needed in a modern AFL coach and has plenty of experience needed to be successful in his new role.  

“He’s gone through the whole routine. He’s done a lot of development stuff and wellbeing for players and then development coaching and then senior assistant coaching,” he said.

“We got to see all the things that he brings to the table and he’s ‘today’s coach’ in my view – (has a) really good balanced, level attitude, but very strong commitment to winning and all that sort of stuff. 

“The balance is the hardest thing, but I think he figured out what motivated his players and worked with them individually as well as driving them into the same thing when he became senior coach. 

“I think he’s got all the qualities that you need. (He’s) a really decent bloke, young, plenty of energy. As long as the club puts the right people around him and supports him, I reckon he’ll be really successful.” 

West Coast’s head coach recruitment process was not McQualter’s first rodeo – he also participated in the interview and selection process to be Richmond’s new head coach in 2023. 

Ultimately, Richmond opted to go for Adem Yze, despite making a strong case as Richmond’s interim coach in the second half of the season – taking the Tigers to seven wins and six loses. 

Balme believes his experiences are valuable to have as a coach and he would have been happy having him coach Richmond had they not decided to go with a different option.

“He understands that it ain’t easy and that people need to be helped to get through,” he said.

“That often is the best way to learn, to have to do it the hard way. I think he gets the balance of that and that’s why he can be a good senior coach because he’s got to understand all the things that are needed. 

“I genuinely am pretty optimistic about most people I’ve been with in footy, but I’ve got no doubt that Andrew, we would have been happy to have him coaching Richmond, it was only that we decided to take a slightly different direction. 

“It’s not as though we’re embarrassed to say that he’d done such a good job for us, but we weren’t going to appoint him. We said at the time that we really felt that he had the qualities to be a senior coach at AFL level. We’re really pleased he’s got the job.” 

Over the coming months, Damien Hardwick’s former right-hand-man will have to make calls and decisions on not just the playing list but also the coaching panel that will assist him during his first full-time coaching gig. 

With former caretaker coach Jarrad Schofield’s future at the club uncertain and Matthew Knights’ departure from the club, nailing down his assistants is key, with the trade period, draft and preseason commencing over the coming months. 

During the search process, West Coast also announced premiership captain Shannon Hurn would also be returning to the club in a development coaching role. 

Balme said McQualter isn’t the ‘sort of guy’ who will bring in people from his immediate circle and will look beyond those circles when making those calls. 

“That’s important that doesn’t happen, particularly with a club as strong as West Coast,” he said. 

“With the resources that they got, they just need to be there and say, let’s make a plan. What do we need? What sort of existing cases do you need? What sort of support do you need? Conditioning wise, et cetera. and then say, we’ve got this and we’ve got a lot of time for him. 

“He’ll probably keep a fair whack of it, but he’s also probably got the opportunity to think that it might be a good opportunity to bring someone else in as well, so he’s got the intelligence to figure that out. 

“He will need to know that Pykey and the board that he believes in them, so he believes in what they’re telling him. He’s got to do that to get them on his side as well. 

“He’ll know how to do all that to make it work. I think it’s a really exciting time for the Eagles.”

IMAGE: ABC News