Geelong assistant Steven King has flown to Perth just days out from the Cats' preliminary final at the MCG to meet with West Coast in the hope of securing the senior coaching role at the Eagles, with his dream of securing a top role "close to becoming a reality".
King has been revealed as one of three contenders still in the race to replace the departed Adam Simpson, with Melbourne's Andrew McQualter and Collingwood's Hayden Skipworth also in consideration.
The Eagles hold hope they will be able to announce their new coach as early as this month, with their search to fill the vacancy someone prolonged due to the number of high-profile options who have turned their back on the process and other candidates who have roles with clubs still in finals contention.
King is the last of the remaining coaching options to still have a role to play in this year's premiership race, with the Cats' midfield coach and Geelong one win away from another grand final berth.
2024 has been the ex-Cats captain's first season back at Kardinia Park, having held roles with St Kilda, the Western Bulldogs and Gold Coast since hanging up the boots in 2010, with King taking over as caretaker coach of the Suns last year following Stuart Dew's departure.
King managed two wins from seven games in charge of Gold Coast on an interim basis to see out the 2023 season, with the Cats assistant now hoping to take the next step in his coaching career with West Coast.
Speaking toย 10 News Perthย on Wednesday, King said he's hopeful he can land the role and expressed confidence in being able to simultaneously balance his role with Geelong ahead of their upcoming final.
"I'm not sure where that sits at the moment, I'm just looking to get [to the club], meet the panel and see where that takes us," King said.
"It's a lot of hard work I've done over the years (to be ready for the opportunity), it's something I've always aspired to do.
"I'm in a really fortunate position where it's close to becoming a reality. At the moment I work for a fantastic footy club in Geelong and we've got a prelim final to concentrate on this week.
"[My current role] has been the majority of my focus, and this is just something that's been bubbling away in the background which I've been preparing for for a long time."
The 45-year-old brings 240 games of playing experience and over a decade of knowledge from the coaches box, while King was also a premiership player, All-Australian and best and fairest winner during his 12 years on Geelong's list.
McQualter joins the former ruckman in having experienced a caretaker role, having led Richmond in the second half of last season following Damien Hardwick's resignation. Ironically, Hardwick would take over the wheel from King on the Gold Coast.
The Demons moved to Melbourne from the Tigers ahead of this year after falling short of his pursuit to permanently replace Hardwicj at Punt Road.
Skipworth has been with Collingwood since the end of the 2019 season, switching to Olympic Park from Essendon after holding down an array of roles with the Bombers over an extended period.
