Geelong assistant coach and triple premiership player James Kelly has made pursuit of the Carlton senior coaching position his priority and might not make himself a candidate for the same role at Essendon.
Kelly, who finished his playing career at Essendon in 2016 and 2017 (he joined the Bombers as one of 10 “top up” players amid the club’s drugs saga) and then worked as an assistant coach for the Bombers, has put himself forward as a candidate for the Carlton position, and according to well-placed sources familiar with Kelly’s situation, may not chase the Essendon senior coaching position at all.
The Blues have been having coffees or less formal catch-ups with various candidates and will soon move to more formal interviewing of contenders for the position, now occupied by caretaker Josh Fraser, who suffered his first defeat on Saturday night against Hawthorn.
St Kilda assistant Corey Enright, Geelong assistant James Rahilly, Fremantle’s Jaymie Graham, Hawthorn’s assistant Daniel Giansiracusa and Kelly are among the current assistants and candidates for the Carlton position. Collingwood assistant and head of strategy Hayden Skipworth met with Carlton chief executive Graham Wright for a discussion last Thursday, the pair knowing each well from Wright’s time at the Magpies as head of football.
Kelly would join ex-Collingwood senior coach, current Geelong assistant and ex-Magpie champion Nathan Buckley as non-starters for the Essendon position, which the Bombers last week said would involve speaking to about 10 candidates in initial discussions.
Giansiracusa ruled himself out of running for the Bombers from the outset, the assistant having quit Essendon at the end of 2025 to work with the Hawks and to enhance his chances of landing a senior job. He was a strong candidate for the Carlton coaching gig when the Blues hired Michael Voss after the 2021 season.
Kelly impressed Melbourne when pitching for the senior coaching position that was taken by another ex-Geelong assistant and premiership teammate Steven King, who has overseen a remarkable and unforseen transformation of the Demons in his first season.
Enright, who has been strongly endorsed as a future senior coach by St Kilda’s Ross Lyon, is expected to talk to the Bombers about their role as well as Carlton’s.
Buckley has prioritised the Tasmania Devils coaching position ahead of Essendon and is not on the radar of the Blues, who have gone down the road of canvassing assistant coaches.
They had planned to speak to ex-Sydney premiership coach John Longmire and ex-Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley at some stage, but the Blues are still viewed in the industry as more likely to hire a first-time coach from the ranks of assistants.
While Fraser has repeatedly said he would not be a contender for the Carlton role after his interim period ends, the Blues are open to interviewing him later in the coach-search process.
Essendon’s field is less clear than Carlton’s, with the Dons’ former champion and coach James Hird having declared his candidacy on Channel Nine shortly after the removal of Brad Scott and Dean Solomon’s appointment as interim coach for the remainder of this season.
Skipworth, an ex-Essendon player and assistant coach, is expected to be a candidate, along with Enright. The Bombers were interested in speaking to Graham, while Sydney assistant Mark McVeigh, a popular ex-Bombers player and interim coach for Greater Western Sydney, is reportedly a candidate, though this masthead has not confirmed that McVeigh is in the field.
Hinkley had said after Hird’s declaration of interest that he would not enter the Essendon process, until they had settled the Hird question. He has been interviewed by Tasmania, who have formally interviewed Buckley and spoken to Longmire.
Solomon has said he has not decided whether he will seek the coaching role at Essendon, but was contracted for 2027 and would be willing to serve the club in other roles next year.
Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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