‘Huge blow’ as top Eagles coach contender Ashley Hansen withdraws from race, leaving warm favourite

One of the top candidates for the West Coast coaching job has withdrawn from the race, with Ashley Hansen to remain an assistant coach at Carlton.

The former Eagles premiership player has told the Eagles he won’t pursue the role previously held by Adam Simpson, as first reported by the Herald Sun’s Jay Clark.

“It’s largely a family decision – he has a young family well settled in Melbourne and he’s happy to stay in Victoria,” Clark explained on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle.

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“Loving his role alongside Michael Voss and he’s told the Blues and Eagles he wants to build out his coaching repertoire, his skill-set, at Ikon Park so he’ll be staying at Carlton in 2025.

“This is a huge blow to West Coast because he’s been so highly rated across Carlton and the Western Bulldogs.”

The 41-year-old joined Carlton as a senior assistant after the 2021 season having spent nine years at the Bulldogs, where he coached Footscray to the 2016 VFL premiership.

He is unbeaten as a senior AFL coach (1-0), stepping in when Michael Voss was ill with Covid in early 2022, for a victory over the Bulldogs.

Hansen is the latest top assistant coach on the market to withdraw from the Eagles race, joining Sydney’s Dean Cox, Port Adelaide’s Josh Carr, Fremantle’s Jaymie Graham as well as former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley in knocking back the powerful WA club.

It leaves interim boss Jarrad Schofield as the firm favourite to take the full-time job, having helped revive the Eagles’ fortunes since taking the reins from premiership coach Adam Simpson.

Schofield has led the Eagles to consecutive wins, over Gold Coast at home and North Melbourne in Hobart.

West Coast is currently favoured to beat Hansen’s injury-ravaged Carlton in Round 23. If they do, it would be the first time the Eagles have won three straight games since early 2021.

However interim coaches being elevated to the top job in recent times have not found success, with Carlton’s David Teague and St Kilda’s Brett Ratten both axed within three years.

The Herald Sun’s Sam Landsberger suggested current West Coast CEO Don Pyke, the former senior coach at Adelaide, was also a strong option.

Pyke is leading the Eagles’ coaching selection panel.

GWS’ Brent Montgomery, who is viewed as a strong tactical coach, Collingwood’s Scott Selwood, Richmond’s Chris Newman, Essendon’s Daniel Giansiracusa and Hawthorn’s Adrian Hickmott are viewed as the leading assistants on the market.

Selwood played 135 games at West Coast and won their 2012 best and fairest, while Hickmott was an assistant at the Eagles before his recent move to Waverley Park.

If West Coast is seeking senior coaching experience, Port Adelaide’s Ken Hinkley – whose future at the Power beyond 2025 is uncertain – would be the leading option.

However his interest in leaving Alberton, given he is contracted for another year and has the Power in contention for another top-four finish, is unclear.

Josh Carr, who already declared his lack of interest in the Eagles job, is currently expected to take over from Hinkley whenever he departs.