Essendon has poached highly rated Western Bulldogs assistant coach Daniel Pratt to join Mark McVeigh’s panel, AFL.com.au reported on Monday, with Pratt resigning from the Dogs to become a Bombers senior assistant.
According to AFL.com.au’s Josh Gabelich, the Bombers have been searching for an experienced option to work alongside newly appointed senior coach McVeigh and have now landed Pratt after he stepped away from Whitten Oval.
What AFL.com.au reported
“AFL.com.au understands Pratt has resigned from the Western Bulldogs and will join Essendon as a senior assistant,” the report said. Pratt was the AFL Coaches Association assistant coach of the year in 2024 and has been linked with senior coaching vacancies in recent seasons.
He joined the Bulldogs at the end of 2023 and has coached the backline under Luke Beveridge. Before that he spent a decade at West Coast across development, assistant, AFLW and backline roles. The former North Melbourne and Brisbane defender will work closely with McVeigh in a refreshed Hangar coaching group.
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Rebuild context
AFL.com.au said Essendon had also explored moves for Collingwood senior assistant Hayden Skipworth and Bulldogs midfield coach Brendon Lade before settling on Pratt. The club signed Sydney premiership coach John Longmire as GM of football performance after the Grand Final and has been looking to replace Dean Solomon since the caretaker opted to return to northern New South Wales.
Essendon has also added Brent Prismall from the Western Bulldogs as head of development, AFL.com.au reported, after the former Bomber spent a decade in welfare at Whitten Oval. Neither club had issued a dedicated Pratt press release at the time of writing.
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