Essendon has begun conversations with potential coaching candidates, with nine names understood to be part of the interview process.

A pair of Victorian clubs have been implored to go after an in-form Giant.

A nine-person committee has been determined to assist with implementing contact training minutes.

All that and more from media buzz...

The Bombers nine

Essendon has produced a list of potential coaching candidates, with a mix of Bombers flavour, experienced heads and untried assistants.

James Hird leads the 'Essendon person' list, with Mark McVeigh, James Kelly, Hayden Skipworth and Dean Solomon all having spent varied times at Tullamarine.

John Longmire and Ken Hinkley are set to be sounded out by the Bombers selection committee, as are Corey Enright and Jaymie Graham.

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Buckley responds to Essendon call

Senior coaching aspirant Nathan Buckley has denied Essendon's invitation to involve him in the coaching process as they hunt to fill the vacancy left by the sacked Brad Scott.

Buckley has his eyes set on becoming the inaugural Tasmania Devils coach, but is against the likes of established campaigners John Longmire and Ken Hinkley.

The Pies great has reaffirmed his position to return to the coaching caper, and according to the Herald Sun, the Bombers wanted to gauge his interest in heading to Tullamarine, which he swiftly denied.

Buckley is understood not to spread himself too thin, which reflects his decision to not push for the Melbourne position last year, with his eyes firmly on the Devils prize.

Nathan Buckley. Credit Geelong Football Club
Nathan Buckley. Credit Geelong Football Club

Pair of Victorian clubs implored to go after 'Package'

Out-of-contract forward Jake Stringer's future remains undecided, and given he has previously been delisted, he is an unrestricted free agent.

Melbourne and Collingwood have been encouraged to go after Stringer on The Agenda Setters, following his seven-goal effort against ladder leaders Fremantle.

The Giants are yet to offer the premiership Bulldog a deal as they work through their forward-line conundrum.

Jesse Hogan, Jake Riccardi, Toby Greene and Max Gruzewski all need to make decisions on their futures.

St Kilda is hunting out-of-favour Brisbane premiership player Sam Marshall, sending multiple recruiters to the VFL to scout him, while the Lions were spotted at the Essendon clash, with reports indicating they had their eyes on Jordan Ridley.

Roos great questions Clarkson extension talks

North Melbourne premiership player David King can't understand why the club would consider extending coach Alastair Clarkson beyond 2027.

The Kangaroos are in the race for the finals for the first time in nearly a decade, and have an 8-8 record heading into the final stretch of the season.

“I want to talk about the Kangaroos because there's a lot of noise around the moment about whether they should look to re-sign the coach at the start of this off-season or early next season, whenever it may be,” King told First Crack Preview.

“Coaches don't necessarily want to go into a fresh campaign with a question mark next to their name, because they think it affects the rest of the group.

“I'm having a look at the club in totality now and saying: ‘OK, they're 8-8 – what has changed? What is looking promising?”

King questioned Clarkson's coaching, and whether the instruction handed down to some of North Melbourne's best players are aligned with the modern game.

“So is this coaching group taking them down the right path? And if there's any grey area, if there's any concerns, you cannot sign and extend Alastair Clarkson under these circumstances.

“If I'm (Roos president) Sonja Hood and I'm in that seat to make that call, there is no way you can sign him (Clarkson) under these circumstances."

Why Richmond let go high-performance manager

Richmond and high-performance coach Ben Serpell will part ways at the end of the week. But why?

The Tigers have dealt with serious injury concerns over the last 18 months, using 40 players in 2025, and have reached 39 players this year with seven games to go.

According to a report on SEN, the Punt Road club did a full-scale review.

A change in recovery program was set to help the Tigers, but after a thorough assessment of all injuries, they couldn't find a reason to keep Serpell.

He will take up another opportunity elsewhere.

The NINE-person committee charged with determining how much contact training

The AFL will introduce a limit on contact training and has left it to clubs to determine who will be implementing the change.

There are nine names from across the competition, all varying from senior coaches to managers and players.

Adelaide's Matthew Nicks and Reilly O'Brien will contribute to the discussion, as will Jason McCartney (GWS), Alan Richardson (Melbourne), Ash Hansen (Carlton), Danielle Hope (St Kilda), Matt Inness (Essendon), Andrew Lambert (Hawthorn) and Selwyn Griffith (Melbourne).

 

Eddie Betts working with the Bulldogs

The goal-kicking legend is working with the Western Bulldogs on a part-time basis.

Since Betts' retirement, he has helped out around the league in various mentoring roles, and according to the Agenda Setters, he will work a day every fortnight as the Indigenous Player Development manager.

The Bulldogs are yet to fill the role permanently.

Umpires set for wardrobe change

Following a report that AFL umpires were wearing shorter socks during the game, wearing a fourth colour will be explored to hopefully avoid clashes.

Umpires now wear green, yellow and blue, but will experiment with either red or white.

The pharmacy company, Chemist Warehouse, determines when umpires wear yellow and which primetime game.

2 COMMENTS

  1. “The pharmacy company, Chemist Warehouse, determines when umpires wear yellow and which primetime game.”

    … can any one identify a problem in how the AFL administration “runs” the game?

  2. I agree. It shouldn’t be up to a sponsor what colour the umpires wear and when. The teams participating in a game should be the sole determinant of what colour they wear. The range of colours available to the umpires should avoid a clash with any teams.

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