Matthew Egan’s short tenure as Essendon’s senior coach has inspired him to work towards one day holding the top job again.
An All-Australian defender during his short time playing with Geelong, Egan joined the Bombers at the end of the 2011 season as an assistant coach.
Having coached both the forward and backline, Egan’s new appointment as the Head of Development and VFL Head Coach will seem him take on a new challenge, working with the team’s younger players and preparing them for the demands of senior football.
“It’s a little bit of a change up,” said Egan
“I’ve been coaching seven years now. I’ve done the forwards and I’ve done the backs so, as a career progression, it’s really good for me and hopefully really good for the Club.
“It’s exciting.”
Egan coached the Bombers in the final three games of the 2015 season following the resignation of James Hird.
Given the tumultuous circumstances, Egan was able to lead the team to a series of better performances and finish the season with a win against rivals Collingwood.
However, Egan is well aware that he still has a lot to learn before he is able to coach at a senior level.
He is hopeful that working with new senior coach, John Worsfold, will help him develop a more complete understanding of what the role requires.
“I enjoyed the three games that I got. It probably showed me that I’ve still got a lot to work on,” said Egan
“For my own development I saw it as a good career progression to coach my own team, run my own program - obviously under Woosha’s philosophy.”
Even in his short time at the Bombers, Worsfold has reignited a sense of passion around the Club with players, coaches and support staff excited to get stuck back into work.
“He’s one of the best listeners I’ve been involved with, so he’s just someone that is easy to talk to, approachable,” said Egan on the new coach
“He’s been really strong on a few things early that the Club can get better at and I think that he’ll bring a great philosophy as to exactly what the Club needs.”
“It’s a really great time.”
