A Carlton coaching candidate previously thought out of the hunt has surged back into contention; while Chris Scott has reacted to Geelong copping the toughest whistle of 2026 in their win over Collingwood. Read on in AFL Daily!
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SHOCK BACKFLIP IN BLUES COACH CANDIDATE’S CHANCES
A new addition to Carlton’s shortlist for its next senior coach has added a late complication to the club’s process.
It was reported earlier in the week that respected assistant coaches James Kelly (Geelong), Jaymie Graham (Fremantle) and Corey Enright (St Kilda) remained in the running for the job, with the Blues whittling down their list of candidates.
Josh Fraser claimed on Thursday he was still undecided about whether or not to apply after a successful stint as caretaker following Michael Voss’ resignation in May, with football boss Chris Davies giving him “the next week or so” to make his mind up.
However, that group has now been joined by Hawthorn assistant Daniel Giansiracusa, who remains in the mix despite a belief he had fallen out of the race.
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SEN’s Sam Edmund reported on Friday morning that the former Western Bulldogs forward, who joined the Hawks as head of development ahead of the 2026 season to further his senior coaching aspirations, is among the top candidates.
“Gia remains a chance, a real chance, to become Carlton’s next coach,” Edmund told Fireball.
“The race for the Blues top job is actually more contested than has been reported.
Daniel Giansiracusa speaks with Sam Mitchell. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
“Gia’s advanced to the final stage of the process, despite being widely considered to have missed out.
“He’s soon going to formally present to Carlton’s coaching selection committee as one of at least four remaining candidates. That will become five if Josh Fraser accepts the Blues’ invite to run for the position.
“It had been reported as a final four – it could be a final five.”
Giansiracusa, who has previously served as an assistant at the Bulldogs and Essendon, narrowly missed out to Voss when the Blues sought to replace David Teague as coach in late 2021.
Of the other candidates, Graham is also heavily in the mix as the Bombers search for a new coach of their own; while Kelly and Enright have publicly prioritised the Blues’ role.
Josh Fraser remains undecided on whether he wants to apply for Carlton’s full time senior coach role. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
‘VERY STRANGE’: SCOTT REACTS TO SEASON-LOW FREE KICK STAT
Geelong coach Chris Scott has questioned the “very strange” free kick count in his side’s crucial Thursday night win over Collingwood.
The Cats kicked eight of the first nine goals to open up a 49-point lead at the MCG, before withstanding a late Magpies comeback to win by 25 points and move back into the top six.
But attention quickly turned to an unusually one-sided run of free kicks paid to the Pies, who eventually won the count 24-7.
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The differential of 17 is the biggest of any game in 2026, while the Cats’ seven frees is the lowest any club has received this season.
“I wouldn’t focus too much on the 24 part – the 7 part’s very strange,” the two-time premiership coach said of the free kick count.
“We’ve had a few games like that this year – if it’s kind of 7-12, it’s like ‘OK, it’s just a put the whistle away night’. But I think there’s a few things that I would describe as strange at the moment.
Geelong Cats coach Chris Scott.Source: FOX SPORTS
“I think we’ve been here before, haven’t we? It’s not the forum to be discussing these things, but that’s not to say that it shouldn’t be discussed.”
Scott flagged the Cats wouldn’t broach the topic with the AFL, but would take steps to ensure the club’s coaching staff are adequately explaining the current interpretation of league rules to their players.
“The confusing parts arise when you think you understand the rules really well, explain it in great detail to the players, and then you don’t see it play out that way,” he said.
“That’s the part that we need to straighten out, that’s really our only role.
“I think at some point it’s good for the people in charge of the AFL to consult broadly, especially the people that understand the game really well, which tend to be the coaches.
“It’s all-consuming, you watch the game really closely and we spend a lot of time on it.
“We’ll get some consulted at some point, give our input. I would imagine that part of that input would be you just hope that the people who are in charge of that [umpiring] are spending enough time on it.”
Scott pointed at rules regarding holding the man in the marking contest as having definitely undergone a “shift” in recent weeks, and said he would make that message clear to Cats players.
“It’s really important that you adjust with that and sort of double down on what are the cues, what are they looking for, are you giving them a reason to pay these free kicks,” he said.
“The other side is there’s ways to work it to your advantage as well, but it’s not as if we’re spending hours on it.”
Scott conceded that Cats tagger Oisin Mullin went “pretty close” to the line in his negating tactics on Magpies star Nick Daicos, particularly around stoppages.
Nick Daicos brings down Oisin Mullin. Picture: Mark StewartSource: News Corp Australia
But he called for holding rules to remain consistent regardless of where they occur.
“Holding in the marking contest should be the same as a ruck contest, which should be the same as a ground-level contest,” he said.
“And I think we all know that, intuitively, that’s probably not the way it’s interpreted. But you can’t be a sucker, you can’t say well we’re playing exactly to the rules and the opposition aren’t and they’re not getting penalised.
“I push back on the people that say there’s a rule of the week and the umpires have changed – they should change. Exactly the same way that we change, they’ve got to move a little.
“The difficult part for them is if we have concentrated on something, do we communicate it.”
Cats cash in on ‘uncharacteristic’ Pies | 03:28
The 50-year old also aired a grievance with a spate of overruled umpire calls throughout 2026, with non-officiating umpires regularly superseding close-in colleagues to pay free kicks.
“All the people in Geelong shirts here are really nervous at the moment,” he laughed.
“They’re starting to get sweaty palms, because they don’t know what I’m going to say!
“But I will bring up one issue that’s confusing for everyone, when you have an umpire 12 metres away with a perfect view and he gets overruled, that’s strange.”
Fox Footy commentator and former two-time All Australian Leigh Montagna conceded Scott “had a fair point” with his criticism.
“It did feel in that second half in particular, a lot of 50-50 calls going Collingwood’s way,” he said.
“Clearly frustrated – I think a lot of people watching were also a bit surprised.”