{"id":877988,"date":"2026-09-02T23:58:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T23:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/877988\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T23:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T23:58:20","slug":"alastair-clarkson-sacking-john-longmire-adam-simpson-jaymie-graham-corey-enright-and-the-other-potential-candidates-to-replace-legendary-coach-at-north-melbourne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/877988\/","title":{"rendered":"Alastair Clarkson sacking: John Longmire, Adam Simpson, Jaymie Graham, Corey Enright and the other potential candidates to replace legendary coach at North Melbourne"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Melbourne<\/a> premiership-winners John Longmire<\/a> and Adam Simpson<\/a> both sidestepped questions about the vacant Kangaroos head coaching job on Wednesday night, as the footy world speculates on who might take charge at Arden Street.<\/p>\n

The Kangaroos on Wednesday announced the bombshell decision to sack<\/a> four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson<\/a> with a year to run on his contract.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

North Melbourne is on the hunt for a new head coach after sacking Alastair Clarkson.\u00a0AFL Photos<\/p>\n

In the press conference that followed, North Melbourne president Sonja Hood said the club had no \u201cpresupposed idea\u201d of Clarkson\u2019s replacement.<\/p>\n

But the Roos boss also said the club needed someone who could \u201ccoach for the modern game\u201d, while making it clear playing finals football in 2027 would be expected.<\/p>\n

As soon as Clarkson was booted by North Melbourne, it was inevitable that both Longmire and Simpson would be bandied around as potential candidates for the top job at the Roos.<\/p>\n

Simpson won premierships at North Melbourne as a player in 1996 and 1999, then guided West Coast to grand final glory as head coach in 2018.<\/p>\n

Longmire also won a flag with North Melbourne as a player in 1999, then steered Sydney to a premiership as head coach in 2012. The man known as Horse took the Swans to five grand finals, winning one.<\/p>\n

Longmire and Simpson, who don\u2019t hold coaching positions currently, were quizzed on their potential interest in the Roos job on Fox Footy\u2019s AFL<\/a> 360 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first reaction is this has just happened today. Let\u2019s let the dust settle,\u201d Longmire said.<\/p>\n

Simpson, meanwhile, admitted the Clarkson news was \u201call a bit of a shock\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Horse [Longmire] and I have a relationship with Alastair and I can\u2019t take my headspace out of him and what he\u2019s going through,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t given it a lot of thought … It\u2019s a bit early to talk about what we perceive as an opportunity versus a mate who has lost his job.\u201d<\/p>\n

North Melbourne will always be near and dear to both Longmire and Simpson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always that sentiment,\u201d Simpson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI played 300 games at North Melbourne and there\u2019s always the love of the club and the people there. Probably more than the footy club, it\u2019s the people that you work with. That\u2019s definitely real.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sydney<\/p>\n

John Longmire during his time in charge at the Swans.\u00a0Getty Images<\/p>\n

Longmire grew up supporting the Roos, joined the club as a 16-year-old, and played 200 games in blue and white, winning a premiership and a Coleman Medal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very hard to lose that sentiment,\u201d the 55-year-old said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a strong connection to the football club and always have.<\/p>\n

“I was all chips in at Sydney, but you can’t help but look at North Melbourne and say it’s had such a big role in both of our lives.”<\/p>\n

In addition to Longmire and Simpson, there are five other men who could be in the running for the vacant North Melbourne gig.<\/p>\n

Jaymie Graham<\/p>\n

A highly rated assistant under Justin Longmuir at Fremantle, overseeing the forward line. Went for the Carlton and Essendon head coaching jobs but was beaten by Josh Fraser and Mark McVeigh, respectively. Before his time at Fremantle, Graham was an assistant at West Coast. Prior to that, he was head coach of East Perth in the WAFL in 2016. And before that, he was a development coach at St Kilda.<\/p>\n

Corey Enright<\/p>\n

An out-of-contract assistant under Ross Lyon<\/a> at St Kilda, where he is head of strategy and game plan. Lost to Fraser in pursuit of the Carlton job. Before joining St Kilda in the 2022 pre-season, Enright spent five years in development and assistant roles at Geelong. He played 332 games at the Cats, winning three premierships and earning six All-Australian blazers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Corey Enright is an out-of-contract assistant under Ross Lyon at St Kilda.\u00a0Daniel Pockett\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Daniel Giansiracusa<\/p>\n

Joined Hawthorn as its head of development ahead of the 2026 season. Was previously an assistant at Essendon for five seasons. Before that, he spent six years at the Western Bulldogs \u2013 the club at which he played 265 games. He was the Dogs\u2019 forwards coach when they won the 2016 premiership. In 2020, he won the AFL Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year award.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brendon Lade<\/p>\n

Working under Luke Beveridge<\/a> at the Western Bulldogs as midfield coach. Previously spent time as an assistant at St Kilda, Port Adelaide and Richmond. Was in the mix for the Melbourne head coaching job, which ultimately went to Steven King. Has long been seen as a future AFL head coach. Played 234 games with Port Adelaide, winning a premiership and making two All-Australian teams.<\/p>\n

Nathan Buckley<\/p>\n

One of the highest-profile names on the coaching market. The Collingwood icon went back to coaching school when he joined Geelong as an assistant in the 2026 pre-season, working under two-time premiership coach Chris Scott<\/a>. Was gunning for the inaugural Tassie Devils head coaching gig that ultimately went to Ken Hinkley<\/a>. Spent almost 10 full seasons as head coach of Collingwood, stepping down midway through the Magpies\u2019 2021 campaign. Took the Pies to the 2018 grand final. Played 260 games with Collingwood, winning a Brownlow Medal and making seven All-Australian teams.<\/p>\n

Other potential candidates: Murray Davis (currently at Adelaide), James Kelly (Geelong), James Rahilly (Geelong), Hayden Skipworth (Collingwood), Cameron Bruce (Brisbane)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Melbourne premiership-winners John Longmire and Adam Simpson both sidestepped questions about the vacant Kangaroos head coaching job…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":877989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-877988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877988","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=877988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/877988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/877989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=877988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=877988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=877988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}