Demons Add Pratt To The Coaching Ranks

The Perth Football Club is pleased to announce that they have secured the services of Michael Pratt.

Pratt comes to the Demons with an extensive background in football.  He started his coaching career with South Fremantle Colts in 2004 where he worked as a defensive assistant to Roger Kerr.  Between 2005-2007 Pratt worked with now Essendon Game Performance Manager Mark Neeld as an assistant at the Western Jets.

Pratt returned to Western Australia in 2008 to take up the role as Head Coach of the Peel Thunder Colts.  In his first season there he guided the team to seven wins after previously being winless the year before.  The team continued to progress under the leadership of Pratt and made successive grand final appearances in 2009 and 2010.

In 2011 he was a member of the coaching staff at the WA State Academy before accepting the role of Head Coach for the U18’s in 2012.  He held the role as Head Coach for three seasons

Pratt is also an AFL accredited High Performance (Level 3) Coach.

With the experience already gained in previous positions within the football industry, Pratt is looking forward to getting stuck into his new role at the Demons.

“I am excited to be joining the coaching team at Perth and getting to know the players.  I have spent some time with Earl and the coaching team over the past week or so and they seem like a really dedicated crew who are determined to help the team improve.”

“I am really looking forward to getting involved with whatever Earl needs me to do.”

With a background that specialises in IT, Pratt will be looking to use this more as a coaching tool at the Demons.

“I am pretty good in using vision and technology as coaching tools as well as being strong in terms of planning and preparation.”

“As with any coaching role though, the most important thing is to spend time developing trusting relationships with the playing group.”

In addition to Pratt coming on board as an Assistant Coach, the club has secured the services of Chance Bateman as well as retaining Kade Lang.

Andrew Ruck has been appointed Colts Coach while Trevor Williams has a new role as Director of Coaching Colts and Development.

Andrew Panetta will also remain as Coach of the Development team.