Carlton’s coaching search has narrowed while rumblings are building over Richmond’s man in charge.
Plus, a Collingwood star’s tenure at the club looks to be all but over. More below in AFL Daily!
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BLUES NARROW COACHING SEARCH
Carlton has cut its list of coaching candidates down to just a handful of assistants, while leaving the door open for interim boss Josh Fraser to apply.
The Age reported St Kilda’s Corey Enright, Geelong’s James Kelly and Fremantle’s Jaymie Graham had advanced to the next stage of the search.
The Blues are also allowing Fraser to enter the process at this stage, according to the Herald Sun, who reported the list would be cut to four or five by the end of the week.
Other names mentioned were Hayden Skipworth (Collingwood), Daniel Giansiracusa (Hawthorn), and Brendon Lade and Daniel Pratt (Western Bulldogs).
Fraser has consistently said he doesn’t feel he’s ready for the senior coaching role and is yet to put his hand up.
But Jay Clark reported “it would come as a major surprise if he turned down an opportunity to present for the job”.
Josh Fraser and Adem Yze.Source: FOX SPORTS
TIGERS GREAT BACKS YZE… FOR NOW
A question mark hangs over the future of Richmond coach Adem Yze, with club great Jack Riewoldt fearing the fallout if the last-placed side loses to West Coast in a fortnight’s time.
Yze is on track to claim a second wooden spoon in three years, after Essendon’s upset win over GWS on the weekend, leaving his side 18th with five games remaining.
His career record of 10 wins and 55 losses is the worst by any coach in history after 65 games.
With the pressure building, Richmond CEO Shane Dunne threw his full support behind Yze on the weekend.
“We don’t address that media speculation,” Dunne told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“Adem is an experienced professional, and he understands that there’s going to be speculation. There’s speculation on all of us at different times as there should be; it’s a high-performance game.
“We give Adem feedback regularly. We have open dialogue between myself, even the board and our executive general managers of football – there’s an open, honest dialogue there.
“We give feedback regularly and we’re seeing great signs with Adem.
“He is an experienced coach who is now two and a half year into his head coaching role, a great tactician and he has built an incredible rapport with our playing group.
“We are seeing our players develop under him, we’re seeing him continue to develop and that’s what we’re focused on right now.
“There’s no issues with Adem, we think he is doing an outstanding job as a coach.”
GWS CEO blasted for ‘arrogant’ comments | 02:24
Yze is contracted until the end of 2028 but Riewoldt said there are have been persistent rumblings about the coach’s future.
He put them to bed – for now, at least – while questioning Dunne’s claims around the Tigers’ development.
“He (Dunne) spoke about that they were happy with their development of their players under Adem Yze, and they were satisfied with the coach,” Riewoldt said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.
“Speaking to Richmond people today, and high up Richmond people – Adem Yze will be coaching Richmond in Round 1 next year. There’s rumblings that potentially his job was on the line, but the Tigers are sticking fat, as they did with Damien Hardwick.
“There was starting to be murmurings about the Tigers, and rightly so. Shane Dunne spoke about the fact you’d have to be living under a rock to think Adem Yze wasn’t under pressure, and the club wasn’t under pressure. They’re steadfast Adem Yze is their man.
“Injuries are a massive issue for them, they haven’t been able to get their best players out on the park, but I would challenge the development piece. I think there’s maybe three players that have developed.”
Riewoldt cited Seth Campbell, Jack Ross and Ben Miller as the three improvers under Yze’s watch.
He pointed out the runner-up in the search that saw Yze get the job, Andrew McQualter, will lead West Coast into the Tigers’ most winnable remaining game.
“If they lose to West Coast at the ‘G … you’d have to be asking the question, did they pick the right man for the job?” Riewoldt asked.
Hinkley discusses desire to coach again | 02:14
UNSIGHTED PIE’S AFL FUTURE ENTERS FURTHER UNCERTAINTY
Collingwood’s 2023 Norm Smith Medal winner Bobby Hill has in all likelihood played his last game for the club.
Seven’s Mitch Cleary reports “conversations have commenced” between the 2023 Norm Smith medallist’s management and the Pies “to finalise his departure”.
Hill’s contract – a five-year deal signed last year, thought to be worth $750,000 per year – is set to come to an end in the ensuing weeks.
The 26-year-old hasn’t played a senior game since Round 21 last year, when he was the substitute in the loss to Brisbane. His last full game was on June 21, 2025.
The livewire forward has made three VFL appearances this year in attempts to return to the top level under Craig McRae, but amid complex personal challenges, such a reality has not eventuated.
Cleary also reports that Hill has “expressed a desire to those close to him about continuing his career at a Queensland-based club”.
He suggested Port Adelaide was also a possibility, given the club’s healthy Indigenous contingent.
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He added, though, that clubs are “yet to make a move” for the goalsneak.
Hill, who took personal leave from Collingwood last offseason, hasn’t been able to string a consistent training block together to get back in the selection frame.
Asked mid-June how Hill was after then-returning to training, coach Craig McRae said: “Truthfully, battling.
“He has a bit going on, let’s be really clear. He has a lot going on. He’s a work in progress, but it’s nice to have him in the building.
“He’s a long way away from playing footy … but again, when he’s in our building, at least we get some opportunities to make him feel that he’s loved and appreciated.”
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 18: Bobby Hill of the Magpies reacts during a Collingwood Magpies Training Session at Olympic Park Oval on June 18, 2026 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Hill, who was originally drafted by the Giants with the 24th pick in 2018, has played 102 games across eight seasons.