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FIFA World Cup 2026 posterEnd of July: Tassie coaching race down to two
SEN • June 3rd, 2026 11:46 am
A timeline has been set for the appointment of Tasmania’s inaugural senior coach.
SEN’s Tom Morris is reporting that the Devils will have their AFL coach signed by the end of July with the race down to two names.
Nathan Buckley has been seen as the frontrunner for quite a while with Ken Hinkley emerging more recently.
Morris believes it will either be Buckley or Hinkley and highly unlikely anyone else.
“There’s a board meeting later this week and they are planning to appoint a coach by the end of July, and then a footy boss after that,” Morris said on SEN Breakfast.
“That’s what they’d like to be able to do.
“I know Caro (Caroline Wilson) has been talking about Ken Hinkley as a frontrunner, but I can’t confirm that.
“I think it’s a really tight race between those two people - Nathan Buckley who is doing the work at Geelong - and Ken Hinkley given his record at Port Adelaide and how he’s already spoken to Brendon Gale on a number of occasions.
“I think it really is a race in two between those two for the Tassie job.”
In Sam Edmund’s coaching landscape article published on Tuesday, he said the Devils won’t be rushed amid a three-club coaching race.
Essendon and Carlton are both in the market for a new senior coach after the sacking of Brad Scott and the resignation of Michael Voss respectively.
But that situation will not force Tassie into anything less than a pragmatic decision.
“The Tasmania Devils maintain they will not be rushed by the presence of the Blues and Bombers in the market and aren’t close to making a decision on their inaugural leader,” Edmund wrote.
“Chief executive Brendon Gale has had talks with Ken Hinkley, but those discussions centred around non-coaching roles given Hinkley’s experience with Gold Coast’s entry into the AFL.
“Nathan Buckley, meanwhile, remains a leading contender. But, for now, the Devils are trying to tempt players for their debut 2028 season without a figurehead.”
