ST KILDA has had more change on its coaching panel, with development coach Ben Jacobs leaving to join Essendon.

The ex-North Melbourne and Port Adelaide player will link up with his former Kangaroos coach Brad Scott at Essendon, with Scott taking on the reins of the club late last month.

Jacobs joined the Saints this season as a development coach in his first coaching role at the elite level, working closely alongside head of development Damian Carroll and fellow Saints development coach Jake Batchelor.

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But after one season he will head to the Bombers and be part of an expanded development program at the club, as well as hold a coaching role. 

The Bombers are also looking to fill a newly created head of development position in coming weeks, while assistant coach Leigh Tudor will be the Bombers' VFL coach, filling the position outlined in the club's review.  

Jacobs, 30, played 90 AFL games across his 10-year career but had a luckless run with injury throughout that time, having been forced to retire prematurely in 2020 due to ongoing concussion issues.

Scott was Jacobs' coach at North Melbourne between 2013-19, including a period where Jacobs was one of the competition's leading run-with players.

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There has been a rapid turnover of the Saints' coaching panel in the past two weeks, with Ross Lyon replacing the sacked Brett Ratten, and Robert Harvey quitting Hawthorn to join as an assistant coach on a long-term deal.

Lenny Hayes recently returned to the club as an assistant, while the Saints lost Brendon Lade to the Western Bulldogs.