ESSENDON assistant Guy McKenna will leave the AFL industry to join Cricket Victoria as part of a coaching restructure that will see retired player James Kelly join the Bombers' coaching team.
McKenna, who was Gold Coast's inaugural coach from 2011-14, will join Cricket Victoria as a coaching and talent ID specialist following two seasons with Essendon under former teammate John Worsfold.
Kelly, meanwhile, will join Worsfold's team as a performance coach with a focus on development after the Bombers restructured the midfield coaching role that McKenna held.
"The duties of the midfield coach have been restructured in order to align more effectively with the distinction between the roles of our strategy coaches and our performance coaches," football manager Rob Kerr said.
"I would like to thank Guy for his service to the club, as well as bringing his football knowledge and strong work ethic to the table. He has added to the spirit and morale of the club with his enthusiastic and positive nature."
As part of the restructure, Kelly will join the coaching team after 313 games with Geelong and Essendon, winning three premierships during the Cats' golden run between 2007-11.
He joined the Bombers for the 2016 season and played 20 games in each of his two seasons, finishing second in the best and fairest last season after coming out of retirement.
"James has a rich knowledge of the game, having an AFL career that spanned over 15 years and multiple premierships," Kerr said.
"In his two years at Essendon he has worked closely with the younger players, he's played a crucial role in helping develop their game and mentor them on what it takes to extract the most out of their careers.
"He is a strong leader on and off the field, and is a great addition to the coaching staff."
The Bombers have moved assistant Hayden Skipworth from the forward line to the midfield group and given him greater responsibilities, with VFL coach Paul Corrigan taking over the forward line.
Dan Jordan has been appointed as the club's VFL coach.
