By Ewen McRae
Western Jets head coach Torin Baker has taken up a development coaching role with AFL club Hawthorn.
Baker, who has coached the Jets for the past six seasons, including three finals appearances, will replace former Hawks’ ruckman Max Bailey on Alastair Clarkson’s coaching panel. Bailey is taking over as coach of VFL affiliate Box Hill.
Baker has a long association with football, including a 17-year playing career in the VFL, country and local leagues. His appointment at Hawthorn will be a reunion of sorts – Clarkson was the head coach at Werribee in 2000 when Baker was a player.
On the Hawks’ website, Baker said he believed his coaching and teaching background would lend itself to the role of fast-tracking the development of Hawthorn’s younger players.
“This is probably the next step for me now in my coaching so I’m really excited to be able to get this position at Hawthorn,” Baker said.
“I think a background in teaching lends itself well to those transferable skills in coaching. I really value my teaching background and I’ve certainly used it a lot within my footy.”
Baker had established a reputation in the TAC Cup ranks as a coach with strong interpersonal skills, and he said the chance to continue his own development while working on the national stage was an opportunity that excited him.
“I invest heavily into relationships with my coaching,” he said.
“I think coaching is a real communication game and that’s what I will aim to bring and something that my background suggests I will be able to do.
“Everyone in the AFL industry just talks so positively about Hawthorn so that is really exciting for me and I feel really welcomed by the group already.”
Baker won 41 games as coach of the Jets, after starting in the role in 2013.
