28 minutes ago, Random Task said:

Dees coaching race narrows as assistants, former coaches make call - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1406246

So Hinkley, Horse, Simpson, Bruce, Enright and Daly have all said NO.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure there would be that many declining at any other club.

We've become somewhat of a poisoned chalice to potential coaches.

If they already had Bucks or someone lined up (which i personally doubt), why would so many rule themselves out a month before any announcement? Why not just say nothing?

Edited yesterday at 08:251 day by Stiff Arm

13 minutes ago, Adam The God said:

This bit is telling to me:

"Brisbane football boss Daly has also had discussions with the Demons before deciding he wouldn't put his hand up..."

So you have the conversation and then decide against putting your hand up. Almost like he was told we want number 5.

Correct. There does seem to be this weird pattern where an assistant that puts his hand up and misses out too often falls out of the thinking for a role, i think a lot of the assistants probably are thinking of that in this regard, perhaps it's not worth the risk if their chances are slim to none

7 minutes ago, Stiff Arm said:

So Hinkley, Horse, Simpson, Bruce, Enright and Daly have all said NO.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure there would be that many declining at any other club.

We've become somewhat of a poisoned chalice to potential coaches.

If they already had Bucks or someone lined up (which i personally doubt), why would so many rule themselves out a month before any announcement? Why not just say nothing?

Umm, I think you may be reading a lot that may not be there Most of those options are recent coaches who genuinely want a break or with very successful clubs with a potential opening soon.

5 minutes ago, Ted Lasso said:

Correct. There does seem to be this weird pattern where an assistant that puts his hand up and misses out too often falls out of the thinking for a role, i think a lot of the assistants probably are thinking of that in this regard, perhaps it's not worth the risk if their chances are slim to none

Case in point, it makes me question Skipworth if he lost out to McQualter for the Eagles position. Nothing about McQualter's time at Melbourne or his first year out West would say he has any idea what he's doing. Of course, the Eagles coaching panel may have absolutely stuffed up their appointment too.

1 hour ago, Random Task said:

Dees coaching race narrows as assistants, former coaches make call - https://www.afl.com.au/news/1406246

Called it @Dannyz

Well done once again 👏

1 minute ago, Demonland said:

Another one bites the dust!

Edited yesterday at 08:491 day by lorn

Cal left my name off the short list because he thinks it's a [censored] take but i can assure you it's not. Beard and i will be joining the Dees

Was anyone seen at Casey this afternoon , hiding behind a tree , a snake, or wearing dark glasses and a fake beard ?

Asking for a friend !

After today's brilliant tactical moves....DAISY for coach!!!!

As a fan you can only really muse on who'd be a good appointment based on what you see of their personality and their playing history. The list doesn't really inspire me. Not sold on Buckley (for where we're at) but from that list my gut feel is that only he or Kelly would be a chance to succeed in our environment.

Whether we like to admit it or not, this club has a long history of the tail wagging the dog in the football department. We need someone who commands respect from day 1 and who can drive a change of culture in the playing group.

None of the 6 will be better coaches than Goodwin IMO (though I concede his position was untenable after the St Kilda debacle).

2 hours ago, Stiff Arm said:

So Hinkley, Horse, Simpson, Bruce, Enright and Daly have all said NO.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure there would be that many declining at any other club.

We've become somewhat of a poisoned chalice to potential coaches.

If they already had Bucks or someone lined up (which i personally doubt), why would so many rule themselves out a month before any announcement? Why not just say nothing?

Hinkley, Horse, Simpson don’t surprise me or really count as snubs.

Horse is the best candidate there and he’s set in Sydney. Simmo’s in no rush to move from Perth. Kenny’s getting 400k not to coach and needs a year of less pressure.

For now it’s Enright who seemingly has a good thing going for himself at St Kilda and maybe isn’t really the strongest candidate and the Brisbane guys - one of whom is going to take over from Fagan pretty soon I think.

West Coast really struggled to attract interest last year, few coaches want to sign up for a full deep rebuild.

I imagine we aren’t the most desirable job but I also think both the Bucks factor and the jostling of where they sit in the rest of the pecking order are playing a role. People who are 7th or 8th don’t want to apply when they’re unlikely to get it.

2 hours ago, Stiff Arm said:

So Hinkley, Horse, Simpson, Bruce, Enright and Daly have all said NO.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure there would be that many declining at any other club.

We've become somewhat of a poisoned chalice to potential coaches.

If they already had Bucks or someone lined up (which i personally doubt), why would so many rule themselves out a month before any announcement? Why not just say nothing?

They might believe that they have locked someone in and don’t want to bother with it.

2 hours ago, Adam The God said:

Case in point, it makes me question Skipworth if he lost out to McQualter for the Eagles position. Nothing about McQualter's time at Melbourne or his first year out West would say he has any idea what he's doing. Of course, the Eagles coaching panel may have absolutely stuffed up their appointment too.

I like McQualter, he knows exactly what he’s doing which is playing on, pace on the footy run and gun and pressure at all costs

It was a disaster for most of the time we tried it given our personnel and has been an absolute disaster at West Coast as they’ve got less of a running midfield than we even do. Hence why he sidelined Tim Kelly and played as many pressure forwards and runners as he could.

No idea if it will ever work but at least he has a vision and is committed to it.

Feels like Buckley is our man. He better be committed over a decent time period as I don’t want some short term top up to try and pinch the missing piece on his CV.

He appears an astute observer, well respected, has a pretty decent coaching record and besides being a Collingwood legend just might be strong enough to shake this club to its senses. I trust he’ll be reaching out to assistant’s to bring with him. Still feels a little dirty to me but I’ll back him in if he gets the nod.

This is in no way informed but I don’t want Bucks, the rucks in Lade and King and Skipworth seem like assistants, do they have personalities to handle the pressure of the top job?

Cal hasn’t named Gia or Monty as DZ has. So not sure if they’re part of the final 6. What happened from Hale? I think we need someone from Hawthorn involved.

Which then leaves Kelly. Honestly he might be my choice on the basis of that I’m sure he’ll either succeed or be a total disaster which is better than just mediocre.

Kelly doesn’t convince me, Daly was the man and we should have offered him coin he couldn’t refuse.

31 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

Kelly doesn’t convince me, Daly was the man and we should have offered him coin he couldn’t refuse.

Do we really know that Daly was the man though?

He’s very highly rated, but so was David Noble who also didn’t have coaching experience, and we know how that turned out

At the end of the day most of us can only gauge any candidate from the outside looking in, unless they have a track record like Bucks

Anyway whether it’s Bucks or an untried assistant, I’d rather someone who wants the job over someone who has to be convinced to join the process

7 hours ago, demoncat said:

Do we really know that Daly was the man though?

He’s very highly rated, but so was David Noble who also didn’t have coaching experience, and we know how that turned out

At the end of the day most of us can only gauge any candidate from the outside looking in, unless they have a track record like Bucks

Anyway whether it’s Bucks or an untried assistant, I’d rather someone who wants the job over someone who has to be convinced to join the process

This.

For every Chris Fagans of the world, there is the David Noble's that exist.

Give the job to a person that is desperate for it, not because we've thrown a few extra dollars.

8 hours ago, demoncat said:

Do we really know that Daly was the man though?

He’s very highly rated, but so was David Noble who also didn’t have coaching experience, and we know how that turned out

At the end of the day most of us can only gauge any candidate from the outside looking in, unless they have a track record like Bucks

Anyway whether it’s Bucks or an untried assistant, I’d rather someone who wants the job over someone who has to be convinced to join the process

1 hour ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This.

For every Chris Fagans of the world, there is the David Noble's that exist.

Give the job to a person that is desperate for it, not because we've thrown a few extra dollars.

You never know if someone is the man until they've proven it themselves. Daly is very highly regarded at Brisbane and by Premiership coaches Hardwick and Macrae who both tried to pry him out of the Lions to no avail. For mine the only thing Buckley's desperate for is a Premiership for Buckley. He may well work out but my fear remains, he's an ego driven bloke who I don't see giving this job the next 8-10 years of his life. He's the safe choice, a very Melbourne thing to do. Of course these are just my thoughts and in truth I know very little about any of the coaching options.

35 minutes ago, Roost it far said:

For mine the only thing Buckley's desperate for is a Premiership for Buckley.

Very happy with that if that premiership is with the dees!!!

.

2 hours ago, dazzledavey36 said:

This.

For every Chris Fagans of the world, there is the David Noble's that exist.

Give the job to a person that is desperate for it, not because we've thrown a few extra dollars.

Malthouse essentially gave Melbourne Mark Neeld on a silver platter. His endorsement of Neeld basically pushed him over the line.

As highly regarded Daly is, he’s no certainty to succeed in the coaching position.

Edited 10 hours ago10 hr by VNightCityLegend

1 hour ago, Roost it far said:

You never know if someone is the man until they've proven it themselves. Daly is very highly regarded at Brisbane and by Premiership coaches Hardwick and Macrae who both tried to pry him out of the Lions to no avail. For mine the only thing Buckley's desperate for is a Premiership for Buckley. He may well work out but my fear remains, he's an ego driven bloke who I don't see giving this job the next 8-10 years of his life. He's the safe choice, a very Melbourne thing to do. Of course these are just my thoughts and in truth I know very little about any of the coaching options.

If Buckley is desperate for a Buckley premiership at Melbourne then I will happily take that every day of the week.

12 minutes ago, rpfc said:

He has insider info.

On 29/08/2025 at 15:36, Dannyz said:

Buckley

Giansiricusa

Skipworth

Lade

Montgomery

Kelly.

Believe Enright opted out and Daly has advised that while the opportunity appealed, the timing didn’t work. The club had a conversation with Leon Cameron, not sure what came of that.

Quick one - you don't have King on this list. So out of Gia and Montgomery for the 6th spot if we take a combo of Dannyz and news stories...? Well done though :)

3 hours ago, Roost it far said:

You never know if someone is the man until they've proven it themselves. Daly is very highly regarded at Brisbane and by Premiership coaches Hardwick and Macrae who both tried to pry him out of the Lions to no avail. For mine the only thing Buckley's desperate for is a Premiership for Buckley. He may well work out but my fear remains, he's an ego driven bloke who I don't see giving this job the next 8-10 years of his life. He's the safe choice, a very Melbourne thing to do. Of course these are just my thoughts and in truth I know very little about any of the coaching options.

Unfortunately your 1st line is 100% correct! 2nd line seems on the money, but refer your first line for Daly!

Re Buckley big ego no doubt, Sheedy, Malthouse, Matthews, Clarkson, Hardwick all seem to have healthy egos!

Majority if not all AFL coaches go in with the premise - I want to coach and win a flag, irrespective of who they coach!

Personally I would prefer Longmire, but expect a few things from Buckley:

• Elite fitness, perfectionist as a player/preparation so will find the best available in this area.

• Like him or not, he is respected in the AFL industry.

• Was a great player and will get respect from Trac, Oliver etc. and hopefully complete turning their careers around back to the champions they have been!

• As Roos helped bring in some players when we were woeful (worse than woeful) Buckley will draw in 1/2 players and assistants!

• He will have learned a huge amount in his first coaching stint and also while in the media, and should be better 2nd time round!

If Demons grabbed a Mihocek or a Chol type to help straighten us up and let JVR be #2 key forward, that would certainly help!

Then snag a good ball user added with some further improvement from Langford, Lindsay and Windsor and 2026 could look very different!