West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson was fending off questions linking him to the Carlton job.
Blue coach Michael Voss has immense pressure mounting following a poor start to the new season, which followed a disappointing campaign last year.
Simpson was brought in on a part-time basis as a mentor to Voss and the Carlton coaching group, whilst sharing duties in the media.
However, his roles intertwined once again on AFL360.
"We've got to get this off the table straight away, there's some tension in the air," host Garry Lyon said.
"I just presented some hypotheticals on Monday (about Carlton's coaching options). I don't like doing it."
'YOU DON'T LIKE DOING IT? YOU LOVE DOING IT!' 😳
West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson responds to the suggestion that he could be an interim coach at Carlton this season, should Michael Voss not see out his contract until year's end.#AFL360 pic.twitter.com/kayczo8NR4
— Fox Footy (@FOXFOOTY) May 6, 2026
Simpson interrupted: "You don't like doing it? You love doing it!"
Lyon responded: "No, history says I don't. I didn't even do it about you when you were struggling (at West Coast).
"But I threw your name up as a possible hypothetical. I knew the answer, so I'll let you now declare."
Simpson wanted to move on, but Lyon treaded carefully.
Simpson: "Let's just leave it as a hypothetical, hey? We'll move on."
Lyon: "He warned me, he said one question.
"It is an awkward, uncomfortable situation, I know. And it's been discussed because of the situation we find ourselves in at Carlton. That was one we threw up."
Simpson: “I've been in the position before, everyone is talking about who's next when you're in the chair,” he said.
“You're just not comfortable talking about it. Whether you're working ay the club or not, I don't think it's appropriate to talk about.
“When you're a coach and you know what it's like to be in those shoes.”
Lyon ended with: “Which won't stop us, by the way. That's the business we're in. But I understand.”
Simpson has enjoyed his time away from the AFL hot seat, and has noted the lack of appeal to return to coaching any time soon, despite links to multiple roles.
"I think if you miss winning… and I haven't missed winning yet," Simpson said on The Howie Games podcast last month.
"I'm a reasonably competitive person, and that's part of my DNA: to want to win everything. I don't have that same desire to win. I look at the comp and the ‘haves' and the ‘have-nots' have never been bigger.
"At 38, I thought, ‘Put me anywhere and I'll make a difference', I don't have the same [belief] now, you have to be strategic about your next move. It just looks really hard, and I don't miss winning yet… if that changes, I'll reassess, but I'm enjoying the new connection with the industry."
