A surprising name has been brought into the race for Collingwood's senior coaching position, with current West Coast Eagles assistant coach Jaymie Graham the latest to be linked to the vacancy.
Following a 37-game career with the Eagles, Graham started studying to be a teacher but his love of education led him back to coaching.
Graham has spent time as a development coach with the Eagles as well as two years with St Kilda, before coaching East Perth in the WAFL throughout 2016.
Graham has been a part of Adam Simpson’s coaching staff since 2017, having led their defensive unit the past four seasons.
Having held an interview with Collingwood, Graham reportedly "blew them away" in his preliminary discussions for the role according to Triple M Perth’s Lachy Reid.
“If he hasn’t already had the second interview, he’s about to have a second interview with Collingwood, but I’m told Jaymie Graham blew them away in his first interview,” Reid said.
Graham has flown under the radar with names including Don Pyke, Brad Scott, Michael Voss and Adam Kingsley drawing more media attention.
We take a look into SEVEN of the leading candidates for the vacant Magpies role👇 #AFL https://t.co/KIbE6ayhDw
— Zero Hanger (@zerohanger) August 17, 2021
Garry Lyon spoke on SEN Breakfast on the strategic moves that may have been orchestrated by Graham's management to push his name to the top of the conversation.
“See that’s what you need,” Lyon said
“If you’re Jaymie Graham, you’re off-broadway (for the Collingwood job).
“So the manager of Jaymie Graham - now I don’t know if this has happened but if not he would have been negligent - he goes around to Lachy Reid, he goes around to Karl Langdon and Brad Hardie and everyone else in Perth and says, ‘Listen, get this bloke’s name out there. We need to drum up a bit’.
The Magpies are believed to make their decision in the next month, with an extensive list of candidates in the running to succeed Nathan Buckley.
Departing Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson is likely to be atop of the Magpies' hit-list, but the four-time premiership coach is yet to reveal whether he will remain in the AFL landscape next year.
