Former Swan Michael O’Loughlin has his sights set on becoming the AFL’s first indigenous senior coach.
The Swans premiership player, who played 303 games for the club, told the Herald Sun it was his ambition to take up a top job at an AFL club.
"It's definitely something that has tickled my fancy," O’Loughlin told the Herald Sun.
"You'd love to have a group of people for a few years and mould them into a good side and pass on the things you've learned over your own career, I guess."
O’Loughlin’s coaching credentials were on show last week, when he led the indigenous All-Stars to victory over Richmond in Alice Springs. The former Swan also has the responsibility of guiding the best up-and-coming AFL talent in his role as the AIS’s high-performance manager.
While admitting his role with the AIS was his focus this year, the premiership forward said a coaching job within an AFL club was likely to be his next move.
"The AIS is my priority at the moment," O'Loughlin said.
"Looking after the best 18-year-olds in the country is a pretty good job, and then we take them over to Europe, so it's a good gig.
"But (AFL coaching) is something I've got to think about over the next six months in regards to what direction I take. I've certainly made inquiries about going into clubs and all that, but we'll see what happens."
*Indigenous players Graham “Polly” Farmer and Barry Cable were both senior coaches, but in the VFL rather than the AFL.