Menu
Sign In Search Podcasts Libraries Charts People & Topics Add Podcast API Blog Pricing
Podcast Image

Crunch Time

Round 16 - Essendon Coaching Race (27.06.26)

27 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?

0.031 - 14.058

Think you can pick all the winners in the round of 32 of the World Cup? At worldplay.com, make your predictions for round of 32 and score a final match and you can win $20 million. Free entry at worldplay.com. Australia only, 18 plus, limited to first 500,000 entries. Maximum one entry per person, terms and conditions apply. New South Wales permit number TP slash 03783.

0

14.098 - 16.302

ACT permit number TP26 slash 01370.

0

16.282 - 23.469 Gerard Whateley

The coaching landscape, Tom Morris, on three different fronts. It plays out before us with the vacancies. We'll start with Essendon.

0

23.649 - 45.09 Tom Morris

Yeah, as we have done the past probably six to eight weeks. So they announced their panel yesterday. The president, the vice president, the footy director and the head of people and culture will form this panel to select the next coach. All Essendon people, all currently employed or working at the club in some capacity, certainly from a board perspective, that is the case.

0

45.07 - 57.586 Tom Morris

And even though they are all Essendon people at the moment, the club would argue that they've all had experience outside the club. So Anthony DiPietro helped appoint Kevin Musket and then Ange Postacoglu at Melbourne Victory.

Chapter 2: What is the process for selecting the next Essendon coach?

57.726 - 75.026 Tom Morris

Andrew Welsh clearly with his business career. Ted Richards has been at Sydney as well. So they do have outside experience. But nevertheless, as we forecast the whole way through, Gerard, this is an Essendon process. for Essendon people by Essendon people. And they are not shying away from that either. So they deny that Solomon is Welsh's preferred candidate.

0

75.366 - 83.114 Tom Morris

They deny this will be a captain's pick. Solomon denies he's thought about the job. He says that he's leaving this to the end of the year, but he can't afford to leave it to the end of the year.

0

Chapter 3: Who are the members of the Essendon coaching selection panel?

83.234 - 103.914 Tom Morris

Of course, he wants the job. So he'll have to take, I guess, take that back just a little bit at some stage. And they will speak to James Hurd. So there is a pathway now, a formal pathway to James Hurd getting this job if he's... good enough and if he is the person that they want. And this will play out over the next few weeks. They have had three external candidates the last time.

0

104.495 - 113.362 Tom Morris

They had Robert Walls, Andrew Thorburn, who at the time was external, and Jordan Lewis. The time before, they had a succession plan internally, Ben Rutten. So now they've gone, you know what?

0

Chapter 4: What outside experiences do the panel members bring?

113.583 - 118.687 Tom Morris

There's no guarantee it works with externals anyway. Let's just go with Essendon people. And that's exactly how it's played out.

0

119.248 - 131.963 Gerard Whateley

So the same question from right at the start, Kenny, is there. If you are not If you have no Essendon heritage, are you going to put yourself into this process? That's what people have to ask themselves.

0

132.584 - 145.463 Ken Hinkley

Yeah, and I agree, Gerard. And the same answer would be somewhere near what I said when I first was asked the question around this is they need to clarify what they need and what they want with the process now.

0

145.747 - 167.68 Ken Hinkley

clear and it's an Essendon driven process they need to now go through some of the the key people that they are going to speak to and come up with some maybe a short list that's different to the one that we expect so but look I think it looks and feels like Essendon so it's probably going to be Essendon. What's the list going to look like, do you think?

0

168.18 - 176.891 Tom Morris

Well, names Heard, Solomon, McVeigh, James Kelly, Hayden Skipworth, maybe Daniel Jones, Syracuse.

177.091 - 187.985 Adam Simpson

And the talk around that the coaches perhaps won't put their hand up to be part of the process if they think it's a bit of a... We try to work out what boat race actually means. It goes back to Oxford, I think. That's not the case for James Kelly.

188.005 - 206.227 Tom Morris

I'm not sure if it's the case for Hayden Skipworth. They're up for the, I'll prove myself in the... Well, James Kelly has said so, that he's up for the case. He said publicly, I think in an interview with Mitch on Channel 7. So that's certainly the case, that it's not necessarily just Solomon and Hurd and everyone else is out of it. I do believe that they are the two clear front runners, though.

206.247 - 224.616 Tom Morris

I don't think that's too extravagant to say. I also believe that John Longmire... Now, I can't work out whether it's Longmire saying this or whether it's Essendon saying this, but I don't think Longmire's in the mix to be the next coach of Essendon Football Club. Why would that be? I just think that Essendon are looking for people who understand Essendon intricately.

224.737 - 227.914 Tom Morris

And Longmire, through no fault of his own, doesn't. Well, James Kelly doesn't.

Chapter 5: Is the coaching selection process focused on Essendon heritage?

227.962 - 231.966 Tom Morris

He played for Essendon. Okay, all right. And coached.

0

232.126 - 257.447 Gerard Whateley

And has been there, yeah. The question will be for the totally independent senior assistant coach. So it's unfair to put a name on it, but just use Corey Enright as your... Not him. The question is, is that person going to front an in-house Essendon process and detail their full IP for the coaching job whilst harbouring the suspicion that this is an Essendon... Yeah. Set up.

0

257.507 - 279.148 Gerard Whateley

So it doesn't mean they've chosen the coach. We'll only know that in hindsight. Did the best possible candidates go and front this or did they actually stay out of it because it's very Essendon? And I'm totally supportive of being very Essendon for what it's worth. They should absolutely take care of their own club business. and do whatever they think is right.

0

279.168 - 289.388 Gerard Whateley

But I think it will cost them five big candidates who would be in for any other job. They'll be on the Carlton list. That's my point, yes. They won't be in the Essendon room. That's what I think will ultimately happen.

0

289.428 - 302.533 Tom Morris

Yeah, and I think what will happen here is Essendon won't just be looking for a senior coach. They'll be also looking for people to support that senior coach. So I don't know what that makeup looks like. But co-coaches is too strong. That's just a bit too left field.

302.654 - 322.67 Tom Morris

But two or three senior people to come into the football club and boost the footy department, which has been ravaged by the sacking of Brad Scott and then two others leaving as well. Could Hurd and Solomon do it together? Hurd wouldn't do it if Solomon was coaching. Would Solomon do it if Hurd was coaching? I'm not sure of the answer to that. I think probably, but I don't know. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

322.69 - 333.364 Tom Morris

And Mark McVay is the other one as well we spoke about. He's been at the Swans. Highly regarded. He's coached the Giants before. So you could come up with a really good panel from all of this.

333.404 - 341.195 Gerard Whateley

You could. If they happen to land the right pieces in the right places. They'd have a really strong, you know, for the long-term project that this is.

341.515 - 342.917 Tom Morris

And they've kept to their timeline.

Chapter 6: What candidates are being considered for the Essendon coaching role?

610.231 - 625.708 Tom Morris

for the right deal, and they are open to Ridley for the right deal as well. Now, they will say no, they're contracted players, and they'll play that game. But this time last year, they weren't open to Merritt. They ended up being open to him for an exceptional deal, which they believe the Hawks didn't offer. This year, they are more so, and that's the same for Ridley.

0

625.688 - 640.388 Adam Simpson

I think the Essendon supporters would know more about this than probably we would with the young talent that's coming through. I mean, Nate Caddy's another one. I think he's probably the equivalent of some of those boys. So, yeah. Is it one draft, Gerard? If it's one draft, then let's go. It's two more.

0

Chapter 7: How might the coaching process affect candidate participation?

640.408 - 642.391 Adam Simpson

Yeah, I think it's probably two, too.

0

642.471 - 644.694 Gerard Whateley

Is there still in talent acquisition mode?

0

644.714 - 662.937 Adam Simpson

The real danger is, and it's probably for another discussion, who's the club that's going to be on their knees in two years? When it is real, Kent, and the draft picks aren't there because Tassie's having their fair share, who's two years away from being bottom of the ladder? You hope it's not Essendon.

0

663.137 - 675.051 Adam Simpson

You think it's West Coast and even Richmond by then should be growing, but there'll be some teams out there. Is it a Collingwood? Is it a Giants? Who's going to be on their knees in two years? Because that's going to be a long time coming back.

0

675.149 - 692.988 Ken Hinkley

I think we've seen too, Simo. I think we've seen when Gold Coast and GWS come in. If you're at the bottom at that stage, it was hard work. Like, it was really hard work. And we had two back-to-back sides coming in. So it's obviously double the problem. But people – I go back to that point. Not enough talent around, Ken. No, well, I go back to that point. The lists are too big a little bit.

693.008 - 712.575 Ken Hinkley

But also go back to, you know, when you have a 17-year-old getting taken the year before their draft, they're going to be the best draft. They're going to be the best players in the next year draft. So the top 10 automatically becomes the top 15. It's not the top 10. So you don't go and get Harley Reid and Willem Dersmer. You don't go and get that type of play.

712.595 - 718.234 Ken Hinkley

You might get one, but you don't get two. And you definitely don't get three because all the other clubs haven't picked.

Comments

There are no comments yet.

Please log in to write the first comment.