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Sport Nation
The 'ace up the sleeve' Tassie could pull for its inaugural coach
Nicholas Quinlan • June 14th, 2026 12:32 pm
With the Devils nearing closer to deciding who their inaugural AFL head coach will be, SEN's Tom Morris believes the league's 19th side could yet pull a surprise on the competition with its decision.
At the start of the season, Tasmania was the only team in the market looking for a new head coach.
But following Carlton and Essendon’s decision to part ways with Michael Voss and Brad Scott, that market has become a lot more crowded.
Since then, the Devils have come out and revealed their four-man selection panel, which features Brendon Gale (club CEO), Lauren Jauncey, (GM of Strategy, People and Culture), Grant O’Brien (chair of the board) and SEN’s Alastair Lynch (board director), with the hope that a choice will be made by July.
Out of the potential contenders rumoured for the job, there has been a focus on experience, with Ken Hinkley and Nathan Buckley being the front-runners for the inaugural role.
But Morris believes that the Devils could attempt to secure a current AFL head coach.
“One thing I can't shake…I can't put any meat on the bones is whether they're gonna make a play for a current senior coach within the AFL,” he told SEN’s Crunch Time.
“I just keep hearing things from people that I really trust, saying they've got an ace up their sleeve, and I would love to know who it is.
“Are they gonna have a crack at Sam Mitchell? Are they gonna get Chris Fagan? Are they gonna ask the question of Justin Longmuir, who's on a rolling contract? What can they do that would surprise the football world?
“I just can't shake that in addition to obviously, Kenny (Hinkley), John Longmire, and Nathan Buckley as well.
“So that will accelerate. They wanna have a coach by the end of July, Tasmania.
“That's their aim, if they can do it.”
Tasmania is on track to enter the AFL in 2028.
