Essendon have scored an off-field recruiting coup, luring respected AFL assistant coach Ben Rutten away from Richmond.
Rutten will stick with the Tigers until their premiership campaign finishes and join John Worsfold's coaching panel ahead of the Bombers' pre-season program.
Essendon made a significant change to their coaching structure in May this year when they sacked former Melbourne senior coach Mark Neeld.
Ex-Fremantle senior coach Mark Harvey, James Kelly, Paul Corrigan and Hayden Skipworth rounded out Worsfold's coaching panel for this season.
"Ben is a quality person and coach who will complement our current coaching structure," Bombers football chief Dan Richardson said.
"We are respectful that Ben's focus is on Richmond's upcoming finals campaign and as a result we will provide a further update once these commitments are complete."
Essendon will start their preparation for the 2019 season in the first week of November after failing to make the finals.
Rutten, who played 229 games for Adelaide between 2003 and 2014, has spent four years as part of premiership coach Damien Hardwick's team at Punt Road.
"Ben has made a wonderful contribution to our coaching group in his four seasons at our club," Tigers football boss Neil Balme said.
"It's unfortunate that he will leave Richmond at the end of our season, he has built great relationships with both coaches and players, and played an important role in our premiership success last year.
"However, we're thankful that Ben has let us know his intentions for the future and he is focused and committed to his role at Richmond for the remainder of our season."
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