{"id":925063,"date":"2026-10-12T05:34:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T05:34:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/925063\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T05:34:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T05:34:13","slug":"daniel-pratt-joins-essendon-as-assistant-coach-from-western-bulldogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/925063\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Pratt joins Essendon as assistant coach from Western Bulldogs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Essendon is assembling an impressive coaching panel, landing highly respected assistant Daniel Pratt.<\/p>\n

Pratt crosses from the Western Bulldogs, where he was crowned AFL Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year in 2024.<\/p>\n

The former North Melbourne player has experience across many programs, including being the West Coast Eagles\u2019 backline coach in their 2018 premiership.<\/p>\n

Pratt, 43, applied for several senior coaching roles, admitting the role at North Melbourne appealed to him, but he ultimately landed at Tullamarine.<\/p>\n

The appointment follows Mark McVeigh as senior coach and John Longmire as general manager of football.<\/p>\n

Pratt said the opportunity to build something was an attraction for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cEssendon is a big club with a clear direction, and everyone here is excited about the opportunity ahead. That was a big part of the appeal for me,\u201d Pratt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a real chance to help build this into something special and that is clear in my recent conversations with Mark and John. There\u2019s a talented young group of players, and my job is to help them get better every week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m also here to help Mark and the rest of the coaching team. Mark knows how he wants this team to play, and I want to help him get it done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to thank the Western Bulldogs and Luke Beveridge in particular. I learned a great deal there and worked with some terrific people.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve built a group that\u2019s ready to have a real crack at a premiership next year, and I wish them all the best.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait to get started at the Bombers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Longmire said Pratt\u2019s experience in building an impenetrable defence was one of the Bombers\u2019 focuses.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaniel is one of the most respected assistant coaches in the game, and his peers recognised that when they named him Assistant Coach of the Year in 2024,\u201d Longmire said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been part of a premiership program and has worked across strong football environments at West Coast and the Western Bulldogs, including AFL and AFLW. He understands the standards required to build a successful team and, importantly, how to help coach players get there.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeam defence is an important area of focus for us as we continue to build our game, and Daniel\u2019s experience in defensive coaching will be a valuable addition to our program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as AFL 2026: Essendon adds to strong coaching panel under Mark McVeigh<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Essendon is assembling an impressive coaching panel, landing highly respected assistant Daniel Pratt. Pratt crosses from the Western…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":925064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[492743,381579,25668,492727,180889,492714,386599,492715,406896,404899,492741,492713,492716,492718,492742,492720,492735,172855,638,231397,492722,492717,404010,492725,492738,492740,492733,24164,64,63,55,639,307995,492737,788,492729,339634,3028,386804,249,90094,207143,492736,387247,492744,410488,30404,392558,663,492739,611,492730,338846,386826,492726,43961,155207,6855,380373,455524,119385,6622,7820,353581,22401,492745,492728,398850,85,492732,492721,9013,383414,387914,382205,492719,74713,492723,380430,377094,378229,376555,403086,446149,428192,492724,378969,492731,386816,492734,6857],"class_list":["post-925063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-coaching-rebuild","tag-s-experience","tag-25668","tag-2024-the-former-north-melbourne-player","tag-180889","tag-a-big-club","tag-a-big-part","tag-a-clear-direction","tag-a-great-deal","tag-a-premiership","tag-a-premiership-program","tag-a-real-chance","tag-a-real-crack","tag-a-respected-defensive-mind","tag-a-successful-team","tag-a-talented-young-group","tag-a-valuable-addition","tag-a-group","tag-afl","tag-afl-2026","tag-afl-and-aflw","tag-afl-coaches-association-assistant-coach","tag-all-the-best","tag-an-attraction","tag-an-impenetrable-defence","tag-an-important-area","tag-an-impressive-coaching-panel","tag-assistant-coach","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-backline-coach","tag-coach-players","tag-daniel","tag-defensive-coaching","tag-dons","tag-essendon","tag-every-week","tag-experience","tag-focus","tag-focuses","tag-football-pratt","tag-general-manager","tag-highly-respected-assistant-daniel-pratt","tag-his-peers","tag-john-longmire","tag-longmire","tag-luke-beveridge","tag-many-programs","tag-mark","tag-mark-and-john","tag-mark-mcveigh","tag-my-job","tag-my-recent-conversations","tag-newswire-sport","tag-next-year","tag-north-melbourne","tag-our-game","tag-our-program","tag-pace","tag-part","tag-players","tag-pratt","tag-senior-coach","tag-several-senior-coaching-roles","tag-some-terrific-people","tag-something-special","tag-sports","tag-strong-coaching-panel","tag-strong-football-environments","tag-team-defence","tag-the-appeal","tag-the-bombers","tag-the-club","tag-the-coaching-team","tag-the-game","tag-the-most-respected-assistant-coaches","tag-the-opportunity","tag-the-potential","tag-the-rest","tag-the-role","tag-the-standards","tag-the-west-coast-eagles","tag-the-western-bulldogs","tag-the-western-bulldogs-and","tag-the-year","tag-their-2018-premiership-pratt","tag-this-team","tag-tullamarine-the-appointment","tag-west-coast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=925063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/925063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=925063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=925063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=925063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}