the plan to turn \u2018Wharfie Time\u2019 against the Dockers in the Grand Final<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not taking the credit for that idea because the bloke who suggested it to me was our backline coach Dale Morris,\u201d Fagan said post-match. Having started with the Lions as a development coach in late 2022, following on from a similar role at former club the Western Bulldogs, Morris was promoted to be the club\u2019s backline coach for the 2024 season. The 43-year old even took the reins for a pre-season match simulation against Carlton earlier this year. In his playing days, was a 253-game defender and part of the Bulldogs\u2019 drought-breaking 2016 premiership.<\/p>\nHearbtreak as ‘Wharfie-time’ backfires | 11:29<\/p>\n
David Hale<\/p>\n
One of the leading candidates for the North Melbourne job, alongside Jaymie Graham, Nathan Buckley, Daniel Giansiracusa and North assistant Xavier Clarke, Hale has served as an assistant at both Fremantle and Hawthorn. He has been at the Hawks since 2022 after being headhunted by new coach Sam Mitchell. A mark in his favour is having works as forwards and midfield assistant roles under Mitchell, as well as head of strategy and opposition in 2026. The ex-triple Hawks premiership ruckman\u2019s coaching versatility has emerged as a left-field option for the Kangaroos, where he played 129 of his 237 senior games. Former Hawk Tom Mitchell told SEN this week Hale \u201cbrought some really cool things across from Fremantle\u201d when he returned to the club.<\/p>\n
Daniel Giansiracusa<\/p>\n
Long one of the AFL\u2019s most highly rated assistants, the former Bulldog narrowly missed out on the Melbourne job in late 2025. AFL Media\u2019s Cal Twomey reported earlier this year that his off-season switch from Essendon to Hawthorn came after being told by the Demons that staying at the struggling Bombers would cause problems for his senior coaching ambitions. The 44-year old played 265 games at the Bulldogs, including as a playing coach and regular substitute in his final seasons. He was part of the Bulldogs\u2019 2016 premiership as forwards coach, while also briefly working as Footscray\u2019s VFL coach during the COVID years. Having missed out on several senior positions in recent years, the 2020 AFL Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year is another in the running for the Kangaroos job, though it\u2019s believed Graham and Buckley are ahead of him in the queue.<\/p>\n
Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham has been a leading contender in a number of recent senior coach searches. (Photo by Michael Willson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Jaymie Graham<\/p>\n
Having narrowly missed out on top jobs at Carlton and Essendon already this year, Graham\u2019s coaching credentials \u2013 and outstanding pedigree \u2013 have been well documented throughout 2026. The highly touted Fremantle assistant interviewed exceptionally well with the Blues and Bombers, and has emerged as \u201cone of the frontrunners, if not the frontrunner\u201d for the vacant North Melbourne job, according to \ufeffSEN\u2019s Tom Morris. But Morris also reported Buckley is \u201cup to his eyeballs\u201d in the Kangaroos\u2019 process\ufeff. Having already showed his willingness to move away from Perth, Graham appears the leading candidate from outside the Lions \u2026 if the club opts to go down that route. And at worst, any interest from Queensland can only help improve his chances of winning the Roos race.<\/p>\n
Corey Enright <\/p>\n
Enright\u2019s recent appointment as Geelong assistant coach after a lengthy stint with St Kilda certainly doesn\u2019t disqualify him from going at a senior coaching position elsewhere. However, the six-time All-Australian defender and highly credentialed assistant missed the final cut for the North Melbourne job. Enright had been long linked to a coaching handover with Ross Lyon at the Saints, but that never eventuated before his return to the Cats. The 45-year old has been a man in demand this year, running deep in the race for the Carlton coaching position eventually won by caretaker Josh Fraser, while also being approached by Collingwood for an assistant position. <\/p>\n
James Rahilly<\/p>\n
Geelong great Cameron Mooney told Kayo Sports\u2019 AFL Tonight earlier this year that the Cats assistant is \u201cready to go\u201d as a senior coach. Notably, the 47-year old, who has been the Cats\u2019 forward assistant for the last three years following a stint with Adelaide, is renowned as an \u201cabsolute gun in terms of ball movement\u201d, according to SEN\u2019s Tom Morris. That trait would suit the slick, free-wheeling Lions to a tee \u2013 and having been involved in the Blues\u2019 coach search earlier this year, he\u2019s certainly not a candidate coming out of left field.<\/p>\n
Murray Davis, pictured here with Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks (L) is highly rated as a future coach in waiting. (Photo by Sarah Reed\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Murray Davis<\/p>\n
Another with a Fagan and Daly-style unconventional background, Davis emerged as a potential coach after being sounded out during Essendon\u2019s search to replace Brad Scott earlier this year. The Adelaide coaching director has said he would \u201ccertainly put my hand up again\u201d should another club wish to include him in their process. Davis is well known to everyone at the Lions, having been an assistant coach for 13 seasons before departing for the Crows immediately after their 2024 premiership success. He helped the Crows rise from outside the finals to the minor premiership in his first year at the club, too. Partner Breeanna Brock was also the Lions\u2019 Head of Women\u2019s Football before following Davis into an identical position at the Crows.<\/p>\n
Hayden Skipworth<\/p>\n
Long linked to a number of vacant coaching roles, the veteran assistant, currently at Collingwood, has said any future coaching ambitions would need to be \u201ca good fit for me\u201d. He\u2019ll struggle to find a better fit than the Lions! Craig McRae\u2019s right-hand man is being keenly pursued by Essendon to be part of Mark McVeigh\u2019s inaugural coaching team. He was previously among the frontrunners to replace Simon Goodwin as Melbourne coach last year, only to rule himself out of the process early on. In 2024, he was shortlisted to coach West Coast following Adam Simpson\u2019s departure, but lost out to Andrew McQualter.<\/p>\n
James Kelly<\/p>\n
The Geelong assistant has emerged as a senior coach of the future in 2026, having made it to the closing stages of both Carlton and Essendon\u2019s coach searches. A triple-premiership Cats great, the 42-year old has publicly expressed his keenness to take the top job at AFL level should an opportunity open up. Kelly admitted to doing some soul-searching after missing out on the Demons job to fellow Cats assistant Steven King last year. He has spent the last five years working under Chris Scott at the Cats \u2013 an ideal apprenticeship for a coach in waiting.<\/p>\n
Adam Simpson coached West Coast from 2014 to 2024. (Photo by Daniel Carson via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Adam Simpson<\/p>\n
The former West Coast premiership coach was a leading contender to return to old side North Melbourne immediately after Clarkson\u2019s sacking, but after speaking with football general manager Todd Viney and CEO Jennifer Watt, declared it was \u201cprobably not going to work for me this time around\u201d. The Roos\u2019 own declaration that \u201cthe club needs a coach who can coach for the modern game\u201d may have counted against Simpson, who has worked in various media roles including with Fox Footy since departing the Eagles in 2024. He also served in a consultancy role at Carlton during the season. The link to the Kangaroos, where he captained the club and played 306 games, including two premierships, made him an obvious candidate for that position. As a flag-winning coach, he looks the pick of those with experience should the Lions consider going down that route to replace Fagan.<\/p>\n
Buckley on what he loves about North | 02:19<\/p>\n
Nathan Buckley<\/p>\n
A leading candidate alongside Graham for the North Melbourne position, Buckley was also narrowly pipped by King to coach Melbourne last year, as well as by Ken Hinkley to be Tasmania\u2019s inaugural coach. Having re-entered the AFL world as a Geelong assistant in 2026 after transitioning into the media following his departure from a ten-season stint at the helm at Collingwood in 2021, the 54-year old has made his desire to coach again clear. \u201cI\u2019d still think that there\u2019s another go around as a senior coach, and I\u2019ve got a fair bit to offer,\u201d Buckley told Kayo Sports\u2019 On the Couch on Monday regarding his interest in the Kangaroos job. There would be more than a touch of irony in the unlikely event Buckley ends up at Brisbane: he was famously drafted by the Bears and won the 1993 AFL Rising Star award, but had come to an arrangement with the club that he would only serve one year before being traded to the Magpies.<\/p>\n
Simon Goodwin<\/p>\n
Unlike Buckley and Simpson, Goodwin, Melbourne\u2019s 2021 premiership coach, is yet to be strongly sounded out about a return to senior coaching since being sacked by the Demons late last season. He told the Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year that he believes \u201cat some stage\u201d he would like to be a senior coach again. And while his time at the Dees ended ignominiously, the Lions\u2019 list would be a more than tantalising second chance. Hailed throughout his time at Melbourne for the team\u2019s defensive steel, he\u2019d be ideally suited to address the three-time reigning premiers\u2019 most obvious weakness \u2013 the ability of opposition teams to score heavily on them. It was that that led Champion Data analyst Daniel Hoyne to famously declare they were a \u201cone in 100\u201d chance at winning the premiership earlier this year, after all.<\/p>\n
Could Chris Scott be a contender to coach Brisbane? (Photo by Daniel Carson\/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Chris Scott<\/p>\n
Two years on from Fox Footy expert David King urging the Lions to move Fagan on to make a play at the Cats coach, Scott has again been linked to the Lions job. It would be a stunning appointment, less than a year on from extending his Geelong contract through to the end of 2029. Ex-Cats captain Joel Selwood was questioned about the rumour the Lions could \u201cpoach\u201d Scott on 3AW\u2019s Footy Fix this week, saying that \u201cfunnier things have happened\u201d than the Lions nabbing the former two-time Brisbane premiership player. With two premierships and a VFL\/AFL record 68.2% win rate from 385 matches at the helm, any potential Scott appointment would be more in the realm of a Ross Lyon to Fremantle-style headhunt \u2026 if the Lions wish to go down that path, and if the 5o-year old himself is seeking a sea change after 16 seasons at the Cattery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The throne is bare. One day out from ten years since being appointed head coach of a then-dysfunctional…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":912394,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,85,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-912393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912393","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=912393"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912393\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/912394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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