\n Updated\n <\/p>\n
\n Three leading candidates address the coaching vacancy at Melbourne\n <\/p>\n
Nathan Buckley, Adam Simpson and John Longmire. Pictures: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
PREMIERSHIP coaches John Longmire and Adam Simpson have both sidestepped questions about the vacant Melbourne job, leaving the door ajar for approaches by the Demons.<\/p>\n
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, meanwhile, says he views coaching Melbourne as a “quite compelling” prospect but added he would need to be convinced to jump back into the hot seat.<\/p>\n
Longmire and Simpson, who both exited their respective posts last year after more than a decade in charge, will almost certainly be sounded out by the Demons after they sacked Simon Goodwin on Monday night.<\/p>\n
The former North Melbourne teammates have worked in the media this year and addressed the renewed interest in their coaching ability on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
“I’ve got two thoughts: One is I feel for ‘Goody’ (Goodwin),” former Sydney coach Longmire told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
“When you’ve been a coach, you’ve got great empathy for other coaches in those situations that Simon’s found himself in.<\/p>\n
“The second thought I’ve got is I can’t be 100 per cent definitive on what the future holds.”<\/p>\n
Simpson insisted he had “refused” to entertain thinking about coaching again.<\/p>\n
“.. It’s life changing,” the West Coast premiership coach said.<\/p>\n
“So to go through a process of … to block out any type of thought, of contemplating getting back into coaching, you just refuse to think about it because you’re dealing with what you’re doing now.”<\/p>\n
Simpson threw up his former Eagles assistant coach Daniel Pratt, who now works at the Western Bulldogs, as a coach-in-waiting.<\/p>\n
He said Pratt would be thinking “please ring me, I’m ready”.<\/p>\n
‘Whereas we’re (him and Longmire) not in that space.<\/p>\n
“I’m having a glass of red tonight when I get back to my hotel room, I’m meeting a few mates for lunch tomorrow.”<\/p>\n
Buckley has been touted as one of the most likely contenders for the vacant Demons job, along with Simpson and Longmire.<\/p>\n
Buckley spent almost a decade in charge at Collingwood, leading the club to the 2018 Grand Final.<\/p>\n
He departed midway through the 2021 season and has since taken up football commentary roles on television and radio.<\/p>\n
“I would take the call,” Buckley said on SEN on Wednesday when asked about a possible approach from Melbourne.<\/p>\n
“I would have a chat, but a lot would have to fall into place to leave this position of comfort I have found.”<\/p>\n
Buckley coached Collingwood in 218 games with a 54 per cent winning ratio, and said he still had a level of desire to coach at the top level.<\/p>\n
“It’s there, otherwise it would be an easy no,” the 53-year-old said.<\/p>\n
Adam Simpson and Nathan Buckley after the Grand Final between West Coast and Collingwood at the MCG, September 29, 2018. Picture: AFL Photos<\/p>\n
Buckley sees appeal in the Melbourne job, highlighting the playing talent currently on the club’s list.<\/p>\n
“I think the Melbourne prospect is quite compelling,” he said.<\/p>\n
“There’s a lot that needs to settle. Big club, storied history.<\/p>\n
“Experience in the playing group is unquestioned and I like their young group of players as well.<\/p>\n
“In that sense, there is a compelling case there. But there’s plenty of water to go under the bridge.”<\/p>\n
Leading assistant coaches Hayden Skipworth (Collingwood) and Steven King (Geelong) were among the contenders for the West Coast job last year, and could also be in Melbourne’s sights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated Three leading candidates address the coaching vacancy at Melbourne Nathan Buckley, Adam Simpson and John Longmire. Pictures:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48644,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,83,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-48643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-text","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}