Why Schofield should be considered a legitimate candidate for the West Coast job (despite one reservation)

Interim coach Jarrad Schofield must be seriously considered for the job at West Coast.

That is according to Port Adelaide premiership teammate Kane Cornes who believes Schofield is a worthy candidate to replace Adam Simpson on a full-time basis.

Schofield has guided the Eagles to back-to-back wins over Gold Coast and North Melbourne, putting himself in a strong position to step up from the caretaker role for 2025 and beyond.

Cornes was asked by Nathan Buckley if he believes Schofield, a three-time WAFL premiership coach with Subiaco, to be a legitimate candidate for the Eagles job.

“Yes, he is, to answer your question,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.

“He’s got great character with a very good sense of humour. He’s done a long, impressive apprenticeship to be in this position.

“To coach your own team in the WAFL and have amazing success. He went to Port Adelaide and looked after the midfield with really good reports. Then headed back home to Perth to coach there.”

However, Cornes does have a slight reservation when it comes to caretaker coaches getting the senior gig following the “sugar-hit” of a small sample size.

“The caretaker sugar-hit is the one (reservation),” he added.

“I’d love to see him get it, and he is absolutely worthy of really strong consideration, but we’ve seen it not work often.”

“Rhyce Shaw, David Teague, Matty Primus, there’s just some examples where it hasn’t worked.

“But with the lack of candidates as well, a lot of others have pulled out, so maybe it’s last man standing.”

Schofield aside, assistant coaches such as Brett Montgomery (GWS), Hayden Skipworth (Collingwood), Daniel Giansiracusa (Essendon) and former Eagle Ash Hansen (Carlton) remain some of the names in the mix for the West Coast job.

Buckley, Dean Cox, Josh Carr and Jaymie Graham have all pulled out of the race or played down their interest in the role in recent times.