At the end of the season, Richmond's forwards coach Blake Caracella will be moving his talents to Windy Hill after mutually agreeing to part ways with the Tigers.
Caracella joined Richmond from Geelong in 2017 and was a pivotal figure in the changes to the forward line which helped bring home the Tigers' first premiership since 1980. He was also part of the last Geelong premiership in 2011.
AFL.com.au understands the assistant is looking for a new opportunity with a hope of optimistically finding his way into the top job of a club in the near future.
He has become a highly rated assistant coach over 13 years with the Tigers, Cats and Pies and after playing 187 games and winning two premierships, Caracella is a proven winner.
In 2015, Caracella completed his Level 4 coaching course alongside Simon Goodwin, Stuart Dew and Brendon Bolton. Essendon has had an opening following two departures in recent months, to which Caracella's work on ball movement could benefit the Bombers emerging forward line.
The announcement comes at as a great opportunity for the Dons who, with the likes of Jake Stringer and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti, can pose a real threat to the premiership with added expertise to the forward line structure.
Caracella will begin in the 2020 pre-season with Essendon.
