23 minutes ago, Deez21 said:

It’s 1 of 3 things (IMO)

1. The job is still Buckleys and he knows and not wasting time during finals to prepare

2. He was never happy having to prepare during finals. (Not the only one - Daly wasn’t happy about this either)

3. We’re not worth it

Or all of the above.

Being he missed out on West Coast I dont think you want to miss two in a row (even if it is to Bucks). If you didnt have high confidence Im not surprised.
I doubt its item 3 being he went through the process with the hot mess of the Weagles last year.

Edited September 9, 2025Sep 9 by Lil_red_fire_engine

30 minutes ago, bing181 said:

You also wonder how many of the current assistant candidates are using this as a dry run, knowing that they have little chance.

Perhaps Kelly fits that bill. The others are experienced assistants who are highly rated.

King, Lade, Skipworth, Gia risk getting the bridesmaid tag if they apply and don’t get the gig. Hence Skipworth bailing

27 minutes ago, Demonland said:

The only thing I dislike is why the public prelim deadline?

If we do go with King or Kelly they get put in a terrible place if it’s fully confirmed days before they have to coach a prelim and then a GF.

The logical thing to do in that scenario is to soft appoint one of them but hold the offical announcement and press conferences until the Monday after the grand final.

One scalp closer to Bucks I guess.

and the last man standing is.......

5 minutes ago, beelzebub said:

and the last man standing is.......

Hopefully Nathan Buckley

Brendan lade maybe best of the rest?

Thank goodness Skipworth’s out. Appalling name for a Melbourne coach. Sounds like a substitute geography teacher. Can we please check if Clive Hampton-Rose is available?

2 hours ago, DutchDemons said:

Did we get a new coach yet?

Yes, it's Nibbler

Well I wanted Daly, then I wanted Skipworth. I’m tapping out of wanting anyone.

I guess Hayden thought the job was Skip-Worthy…

I’ll see myself out

25 minutes ago, DeeSpencer said:

Perhaps Kelly fits that bill. The others are experienced assistants who are highly rated.

King, Lade, Skipworth, Gia risk getting the bridesmaid tag if they apply and don’t get the gig. Hence Skipworth bailing

The only thing I dislike is why the public prelim deadline?

If we do go with King or Kelly they get put in a terrible place if it’s fully confirmed days before they have to coach a prelim and then a GF.

The logical thing to do in that scenario is to soft appoint one of them but hold the offical announcement and press conferences until the Monday after the grand final.

My guess is that Prelim week is a marker for the general public but the club pretty goes on break after the GF so at least then the coach will be in and ready to go for when players return from leave.

3 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Gee The Age is campaigning hard for Buckley to go to Tassie. It's quite blatant.

3 hours ago, binman said:

The Coaches votes tell an interesting tale.

In 2018, Nibbla's second highest rated season, he only got two coaches votes (3 in 2023 and 1 in 2021).

Last season Nibbla got 15 coaches' votes.

This season Nibbla got an impressive 26 coaches' votes

Some rate the coaches award as the most relevant

To be fair, ANB had a lot of stiff competition whilst at the Demons but the same could be said of the Crows

Anyway, the original reference to ANB was to highlight how a players disposals can look so much better in a better system ... especially when a team takes the game on using the corridor when applicable

Let's hope our new coach can get our team playing in a far more 'dynamic' way

As for the new coach, I was in favour of the new coach having experience at the helm. But it's come down to a choice of one in that area (Bucks)

I'm reckoning that if one of the assistants does prevail, they must have interviewed extremely well

21 minutes ago, Demonland said:

Shiftiest bloke I've ever seen going by that photo

Edited September 9, 2025Sep 9 by Sideshow Bob
.

1 hour ago, BKKBooga said:

Whatever spin is put on this, it's not a good look when so many dont want to go through the process. There are only 18 jobs at this level and if your a serious aspirant you need to have a crack. Don't waste the clubs time by pulling out so late. It's not a good look for Skipworth.

The chickens are coming home to roost for us unfortunately. We're not an attractive proposition because coaches surely now see that at MFC their biggest hurdle will still be worrying about whether each weekend will be one where the players choose to have a genuine dip or whether they'll mail it in.

Goodwin was still dealing with players who'd played 150 games yet could routinely play like rookies at any given time. Just a bizarre thing but something that has been a constant at this club this century.

Anyhow my hope now is for Kelly with hopefully Bartel in the entourage. We need winners and we need people who the playing group won't be prone to look down on and walk over. Even though I think it's a bad fit I'd prefer Buckley if not Kelly. The rest just give me a gut feel of more tail wagging to dog in the FD. Hopefully one day we'll get the right mix and foster a player lead culture change that might actually fix us once and for all.

10 minutes ago, rufus said:

The chickens are coming home to roost for us unfortunately. We're not an attractive proposition because coaches surely now see that at MFC their biggest hurdle will still be worrying about whether each weekend will be one where the players choose to have a genuine dip or whether they'll mail it in.

Goodwin was still dealing with players who'd played 150 games yet could routinely play like rookies at any given time. Just a bizarre thing but something that has been a constant at this club this century.

Anyhow my hope now is for Kelly with hopefully Bartel in the entourage. We need winners and we need people who the playing group won't be prone to look down on and walk over. Even though I think it's a bad fit I'd prefer Buckley if not Kelly. The rest just give me a gut feel of more tail wagging to dog in the FD. Hopefully one day we'll get the right mix and foster a player lead culture change that might actually fix us once and for all.

26 minutes ago, Sideshow Bob said:

Shiftiest bloke I've ever seen going by that photo

The face of someone who just [censored] in someone’s sandwich

Unless they've been promised a succession plan (maybe Daly or Bruce), an assistant who wants to be a senior coach would be crazy to pass up being involved in any process.

There are 18 jobs. 1, maybe 2 come up every uear or so. And you have Hinkley, Simpson and Longmire waiting in the wings. Anyone who thinks they're too good for a club, even West Coast, is running the risk of not getting any senior gig.

44 minutes ago, praha said:

My guess is that Prelim week is a marker for the general public but the club pretty goes on break after the GF so at least then the coach will be in and ready to go for when players return from leave.

It seems based on the trade period.

Making sure we’ve got time for a new coach to make decisions on who to trade out and confidence to sell potential recruits.

Which is entirely reasonable, we’ve got some huge decisions, but if the best person for the job is coaching in prelims and the grand final we need to give them space to do that.

Just now, Mickey said:

Unless they've been promised a succession plan (maybe Daly or Bruce), an assistant who wants to be a senior coach would be crazy to pass up being involved in any process.

There are 18 jobs. 1, maybe 2 come up every uear or so. And you have Hinkley, Simpson and Longmire waiting in the wings. Anyone who thinks they're too good for a club, even West Coast, is running the risk of not getting any senior gig.

Exactly. You would be pretty confident all of Hinkley, Simpson, Longmire and Goodwin are going to be right at the top of everyone’s wish list moving forward including Tasmania

29 minutes ago, rufus said:

Goodwin was still dealing with players who'd played 150 games yet could routinely play like rookies at any given time. Just a bizarre thing but something that has been a constant at this club this century.

We had one game after the first 5 rounds that we weren’t at least a decent winning chance at some stage. The penultimate round against Hawthorn.

The idea that we’re flat out effortless isn’t true.

There’s a couple of players who were unpredictable and the skills were poor, but there’s a lot to work with if we get our list management and coaching right.

5 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

Buckley putting a team together but not interested in the job according to Edmund? Wild areas

4 minutes ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This Nathan Buckley prank is getting wild.

guys spent days preparing, reached out and commenced putting together a team, multiple leading candidates have quit or declined the process because they think he has the job and jokes on Melbourne, he doesn’t even want it because Caro has convinced him to wait for Tassie

classic Buckley pranks

Honestly, just give it to him and be done with all this drama.

Sooner he starts, the better we can get on the front foot with recruiting.