Former St Kilda forward and NFL punter for the Philadelphia Eagles Arryn Siposs has reportedly earned a coaching gig with the Hawthorn Hawks ahead of next season.
The news comes after Siposs returned to Melbourne after playing 32 NFL games for Philadelphia, including a Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs earlier this year in Arizona.
Initially set to coach Williamstown in the VFL, AFL.com journalist Josh Gabelich has reported that Sippos will join the football department at the Hawthorn Hawks as a development coach.
Before moving to the United States, Siposs spent five seasons with the St Kilda Saints, during which he managed to record 28 AFL appearances.
The final member of Hawthorn's coaching panel for 2024, Siposs is no stranger to being a coach, having spent time coaching football at Brighton Grammar School and Hallam Senior Secondary College in the past.
โWe believe our entire coaching team is well balanced to continue developing our young list and giving them every opportunity to succeed,โ Hawthorn's General Manager of FootballโฏRob McCartney said in a club statement.
"Arryn joins our club with great experience and perspective following exposure across two high performance environments, in the AFL and NFL, which we believe will benefit our program immensely. We see him being a great fit for our talented young list and helping develop players, both on and off the field.
โThrough both our AFL and AFLW program David has demonstrated he has a bright future as a young coach. Stepping into a full-time role with our AFL program will allow him to deepen his relationships and development opportunities with our younger players.โ
The Hawks have now finalised their coaching staff for 2024, with both Adrian Hickmott and David Mackay securing new roles whilst Brett Ratten returned in September.
Hickmott will join as the forward's coach after Chris Newman's departure to the Richmond Tigers, and Mackay will join the AFL program full-time as a development coach. This comes after he split his time between the men's and women's programs last season.
David Hale will also remain at the club and coach the midfield, while Kade Simpson, having joined last year, will manage the backline again.
Zane Littlejohn has been selected as the VFL coach of the Box Hill Hawks and will also find himself as a development coach for the Hawks AFL program. Andy Collins will remain as the Head of Development at the club -ย a position he has been in for the past two seasons.
Hawthorn Hawks AFL 2024 Coaching line up:
Sam Mitchell โ Senior Coach
Brett RattenโฏโโฏHead of Coaching Performance & Development
Kade Simpson โ Assistant Coach (Backs)
David Hale โ Assistant Coach (Midfield)
Adrian Hickmott โ Assistant Coach (Forwards)
Andy Collins โ Head of Development
David Mackay โ Development Coach
Arryn Siposs โ Development Coach
Zane Littlejohn โ Box Hill Senior Coach/Development Coach
