Hickmott to coach Eagles WAFL side

Adrian Hickmott will take charge of the West Coast Eagles WAFL side in 2020.

Hickmott will replace Luke Webster who coached the side to finals in their inaugural season in the WAFL.

Webster has been appointed the AFL sides forwards coach.

The former Blue and Cat said he was excited to be taking on a new role.

“Over the off-season ‘Simmo’ (Adam Simpson) and the group sat down and thought of a different role for some coaches to change it up a bit, and different faces and different voices,” Hickmott told SportsLine.

“Luke Webster has gone up and is coaching the (AFL) forwards and I’ve got a great opportunity to coach the WAFL team, so very excited about that.

“They say change is as good as a holiday, so it gives me a great opportunity to speak in front of the group, a lot of different aspects to admin work, coordinating different things during game day and during the week.

“It’s a different role and really good for myself and, like I said, a different voice for the young kids to listen to during the year as well.”

The 47-year-old said building relationships and connections with players was a key focus.

“I reckon when you do that you get a good understanding how they react under pressure and when they show anxiety or when they don’t.

“The connection with the players, I think the whole coaching group is really good at that.

“The character and the coachability side of things is a couple of things that stand out (about players during the recruiting process), and then really how much they love to be there – which is part of the coaching group’s role as well.

“The group that have come through are definitely excited to be there, they’ve got great characters and the couple of practice matches we’ve played against Swan Districts and Peel they’ve shown those characters as well.”

The Eagles have a break this weekend after a pre-season clash against Peel Thunder last weekend before taking on Claremont at Revo Fitness Stadium on March 21 in another pre-season hit out in the build up to round one of the WAFL season.

IMAGE: FILE