THE CONTENDERS

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Surely the job is his if he wants it. The four-time Hawthorn premiership coach is enjoying a gap year and looks $1.01 to be coaching somewhere next year. The Giants will get first crack at him, it seems.

NN Alastair Clarkson (below) Mark McVeigh

Hugely respected by the Giants players and will get well over half a season to prove he deserves the job full-time. The former Bomber has been coaching at the Giants since 2015 and will relish his audition.

Adam Kingsley

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The former Power premiership player has been Richmond’s midfield coach under Damien Hardwick since 2019 after eight seasons with St Kilda. In the box seat to nab a senior role somewhere sooner rather than later.

Blake Caracella

When the Essendon and Brisbane Lions two-time premiership player stepped up to fill in for Ben Rutten earlier this season, he declared he wanted to be a senior coach. Incredibly well credentialed following strong apprenticeships with assistant coaching roles at Collingwood, Geelong, Richmond and now Essendon.

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His stocks continue to rise. He was a part of the Hawthorn coaching panel during the club’s premiership three-peat and joined Melbourne as midfield coach at the end of 2020. Success appears to follow the former Demons star.

NN Adem Yze James Hird

Could it happen? When Hird’s coaching career ended at Essendon amid the supplements scandal, it appeared he’d never coach again. But he’s dipped his toe back in with a parttime leadership advisory role with the

Giants this year. A rough chance, but stranger things have happened.

Nathan Buckley

The highly respected former Collingwood coach has stepped seamlessly into the media, but does he still have the coaching bug? If he put his hand up he’d surely be a contender here, but it seems unlikely he’d leave Melbourne with his children still at school.