Schofield loving life in Eagles’ coaching hot seat

West Coast interim coach Jarrad Schofield is loving life in the hot seat, but he’s yet to publicly declare whether he wants the job full-time.

Schofield tasted victory for the first time as an AFL senior coach when the Eagles came from 23 points down to defeat Gold Coast by 10 points on Friday night.

The win snapped West Coast’s nine-match losing run, and gave Schofield’s prospects of landing the full-time job a big boost.

Dean Cox, Josh Carr and Nathan Buckley have already ruled themselves out of the running for the West Coast coaching role, but there’s still plenty of quality names Schofield will have to contend with if he wants the job.

Schofield has encouraged West Coast to play a more physical brand since taking over, and the players have been lapping it up over the past fortnight.

After challenging Fremantle in last week’s western derby, West Coast’s physical prowess on Friday night proved too much for the Suns to handle in the end.

Under Schofield’s four-match stint, the only disappointing result so far has been the 72-point loss to St Kilda.

Schofield expressed his pride in the player group after the triumph over the Gold Coast, and he lapped up the winning feeling.

“It’s why you coach, I love being in the seat. I’m enjoying it,” Schofield said.

“I said that many times – that was even when we hadn’t won a game.

“You definitely enjoy it a lot more when you’re winning. We want it to be a habit of ours.

“The fuel’s been there, the fire in the belly. And when you’re in this seat, it gets exciting.

“Why I coach is just the fulfilment when you see all the hard work that the players put in and the smiles on their faces.”

When asked if he thought the win would enhance his chances, Schofield replied: “I said the other day, wins and losses – I don’t know if they’ll mount up or not in terms of whether I’m endorsed.

“But what I do know is it just solidifies why I coach, why I accepted the opportunity to step up as interim.

“I’m here to try and help the team be better, and hopefully I’m doing that.

“We asked the players to do it for longer than last week and they did that and if they’re listening to the message, fantastic.”

Schofield remained non-committal when asked whether he will apply for the job, but it’s understood he’s well and truly in the running.

Co-captain Oscar Allen and young gun Harley Reid appeared to dislocate fingers during the win over the Gold Coast, and both will be further assessed over the coming days.

Defender Harry Edwards will miss next week’s clash with North Melbourne in Hobart due to concussion.