‘He did it the hard way’: How Andrew McQualter became the man to lead West Coast Eagles into next generation

As a player, Andrew McQualter did things the hard way. He was an understated and unheralded member of a St Kilda team that twice fell desperately short of a famous drought-busting premiership. Then he headed north to keep his career alive in Gold Coast’s rough-and-tough formative years. And his former captain is now backing him to do it the hard way at West Coast, as he continues to lead the rebuild of the biggest sporting team in the State. McQualter’s start as the seventh full-time coach of the Eagles has been nothing short of difficult, with only three wins from his first 29 games at the helm. And they will start as $6.50 outsiders again when McQualter leads his side against his former coach Ross Lyon and the Saints at Marvel Stadium on Sunday. Former Saints captain Nick Riewoldt — who played alongside “Mini” during his 89-game stint at St Kilda —said McQualter’s coaching journey reflected his playing career. “He did it the hard way as a player. He was drafted and then redrafted by the club and became one of the hardest working guys in our team,” Riewoldt said. “He modelled his game on providing great effort and being a strong role player. We’re seeing it play out in a pretty similar way for him with a bit of a baptism of fire to begin with, but hopefully, he’s able to continue on in a similar vein coaching-wise. “I am excited for him because last year there was a bit of an element with the losses piling up, how quickly can they turn this around? But it can turn pretty quickly. “Mini deserves a lot of credit for the way he’s been able to develop these kids really quickly, but also the way he’s been able to facilitate the turnaround in a guy like Tim Kelly, who probably looked on last year, and he’s been playing some really important footy for them as well.” McQualter’s playing resume may not be as prolific as some of his counterparts, including Brownlow medallist Sam Mitchell and three-time premiership star Craig McRae. But Riewoldt said McQualter always had strong attributes as a player, which made him built to be a successful senior coach. “He always saw the game really well, he was incredibly demanding of his teammates, and in a team full of leaders, he was a really strong leader,” he said. “Andrew valued delivering on effort really highly and valued playing his role and the expectation of others to play their role really highly as well. “There were some of the elements that would assist a coach in being able to get through to a playing group. That strong demand and strong expectation that players are going to give effort and play their role. “You couple that with his ability to see the game; he spent time in really successful environments, so he clearly knows what it takes to be able to sort of reach the pointy end. It’s a pretty formidable combination when you stack it all together.” Once McQualter hung up the boots, he built a strong coaching resume. He was instrumental in Richmond’s modern-day dynasty of three premierships in four years from 2017 to 2020. As the midfield coach under mastermind Damien Hardwick, McQualter closely mentored the likes of Brownlow medallists Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin, as well as Dion Prestia, Kane Lambert and Shane Edwards. Cotchin said McQualter was able to get the Tigers’ midfielders to gel and play to their strengths, which was pivotal to their dominant era. “I don’t think we were the talented midfield, definitely not the most talented that was in the competition but what he did along with the other coaching staff and Damien Hardwick was established what people’s strengths were, how we could get the best out of people’s strengths, but then how that complemented other people who were playing different roles within our team and our structure,” Cotchin said. “From a strategy point of view, we had a clear understanding of what our goal was from a stoppage and midfield, but he wasn’t scared of kind of challenging us on what that needed to look like week in, week out. “He has a real understanding of the game. He was never the most talented player, but what you knew he was going to give was effort, energy, and he sees the game really well. “I can only imagine the level that is now that he is in a senior coaching role. I get to speak to him semi-regularly and catch up with him when I’m in Perth as well, but he’s just someone who is constantly looking at ways to learn, grow and get the best out of people.” Cotchin led a Richmond outfit that struggled for years before eventually they built to a premiership dynasty, and he can see similarities in the journey the Eagles are on. “You only have to look at some of the games they’ve played this season, they’ve managed to get a couple of wins that were probably somewhat unexpected from the external,” he said. “I know internally, there’s there’s a lot of belief, and I’m fortunate enough to have played a lot of footy with both Bakes (Liam Baker) and Fridge (Jack Graham) and other guys who have been around the footy club there. “As supporters and AFL fans, how we define success is very different to what I know that they’re quantifying as their success right now. And that might be winning a quarter or a half or three quarters, and it’s more about the process and system that they’re implementing that they know will hold them in good stead and stack up against the best of them, particularly as they play more footy together.”