Edwards, 35, will work with current development coach Matthew Nicks and development manager Daniel Healy to fast track the progress of the club’s first to third year players.
Edwards enjoyed a stellar AFL career with the Adelaide Crows before retiring midway through 2010. He played 321 games, including premierships in 1997 and 1998, and finished runner-up in the club best and fairest award three times.
Port Adelaide senior coach Matthew Primus says he is thrilled with the appointment of Edwards.
“Tyson was very keen to get back into footy and we are delighted to have a person of his calibre at our club,” Primus said.
“He has achieved so much throughout his career and being recently retired, he understands the modern game very well and has some great ideas to share.
“Significantly, Tyson went about his football in a very professional manner and is widely respected for how he prepared and played the game. So not only will he be able to develop our players from an on-field perspective, but he’ll also be able to educate them as to how to get the best out of themselves,” Primus said.
With Edwards’ addition, the Power’s development panel has an extra resource on previous years and Primus says this is a huge plus as the club looks to develop its entire squad.
“We’re looking to put a major emphasis on developing our whole group from Dom Cassisi through to our new recruits in next month’s draft. Everyone has to get better and improve on last season’s performance,” Primus said.
“So with Tyson joining Daniel Healy and Matthew Nicks as part of our development team we will have more time to put into our players to ensure they get up to AFL standard as quick as possible. This will be very beneficial for our football club and Tyson will play a big role in this.”
Edwards says he’s very excited about his appointment and is eager to start in his new role.
“I’m very excited about my development role at Port Adelaide,” Edwards said.
“I’ve been out of AFL footy for just over twelve months but the juices have kept flowing, so when an opportunity like this comes up it’s very exciting and I can’t wait to start.
“At the moment the development side is a very big part of AFL football clubs and the sooner you can develop the younger players and get them playing consistent AFL football the better off the club is going to be.”
While his role is to work with the Power’s younger brigade, Edwards says he is also happy to share his experience and knowledge with some of Port Adelaide’s older players.
“My main role is to work with the younger players, but because I’m quite fresh out of the game, I’m more than happy to sit down with some of the older players as well to have a chat about footy and share some of my experience.”
Edwards’ appointment completes the Power’s coaching panel for season 2012 after the club recently announced that Josh Carr (midfield), Shaun Rehn (midfield) and Brad Gotch (defensive) would join Garry Hocking (forward) as assistant coaches under senior coach Matthew Primus
