Tasmania Devils chief executive Brendon Gale has publicly declared a list of potential candidates for the club’s inaugural senior coaching position.
Six coaches are on the Devils’ hit-list, with Gale confirming former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley was “a man of great interest,” after Buckley himself declared that he was a chance to be the first coach of Tasmania, if he was wanted.
Adam Simpson and Nathan Buckley faced off as senior coaches in the 2018 grand final, but are in the media now and on Tasmania’s coaching shortlist.Credit: Joe Armao
Speaking at a breakfast in Southbank on Friday, Gale also admitted the club had gone to the market for a football boss too soon, and will revisit the appointment later this season around the time many clubs wrap up their campaigns for 2025.
Gale said the names on the shortlist to be the first coach of his club include: Buckley, Geelong dual premiership coach Chris Scott, former Sydney premiership coach John Longmire, former West Coast premiership coach Adam Simpson and outgoing Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley.
Reigning premiership coach Chris Fagan, who is also a proud Tasmanian, wasn’t mentioned publicly but Gale later confirmed to this masthead that he was a person of “significant interest”, whether that be as senior coach or in an overseeing role.
“I’ve got great respect for Nathan, as a competitor and what he’s done in coaching, he’s been a very successful coach at a very complex club to manage at times,” Gale quipped as he smiled in the direction of former Magpies president Eddie McGuire.
Two-time Geelong premiership coach Chris Scott’s “formidable” record is why he is on Brendon Gale’s radar.Credit: AFL Photos
“I think he’s a continuous learner and I think people tend to get better at things in life, through success and through failure. So, he’s a man of great interest.
“Chris Scott’s coaching record is formidable. There’s a bloke over in Sydney who goes alright, who’s betwixt and between at the moment. Talking about tough environments, Ken Hinkley, it’s pretty tough over there. Adam Simpson, history would suggest it’s really hard to win premierships from Perth; he made two grand finals.
“Is there an unproven operator at senior level who’s really competent? I guess we’ve got the time and space to map out that sort of profile and find the coach that meets our needs. There’s a few of them, that’s for sure.”
Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff is introducing special legislation, due to be debated by both houses of parliament in July, in a bid to fast-track construction of the controversial Hobart stadium.
Chris Fagan (main), John Longmire (top right) and Ken Hinkley (bottom right) are among the experienced contenders identified by the Tasmanian Devils as possible candidates to be the club’s first senior coach.Credit: Getty
Rockliff and the AFL have maintained that Tasmania’s licence for the AFL team is contingent on building a roofed stadium that seats 23,000 people at Macquarie Point.
Gale admitted that the uncertainty surrounding the stadium was one reason the club was yet to appoint a head of football.
“In a couple of instances, it’s been a road hump, and rightly so. It’s not without risk and so some of the people you talk to are very capable and extremely valuable to their clubs. The appointment is significant,” he said.
“That senior head of football who, to a large extent, is going to have ownership over the coaching appointment as well, they need to invest in each other, that’s critical.
“It’s probably going to be more to towards the end of this year, we went to the market earlier this year, but we just felt that the timing wasn’t right.”
Derek Hine and Todd Patterson, who will head up the Devils’ list build ahead of their planned first season in 2028, confirmed they were in negotiations with the AFL about draft concessions.
As for what will happen if the Macquarie Point stadium proposal doesn’t pass through parliament, Gale did not waste words. “Well, we’re out of a job,” he said.
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