Big-name assistant throws his hat in the ring for the Carlton job, not Essendon’s

Hawthorn assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa will not pursue the Essendon coaching position, but is expected to be a candidate for the Carlton role that is occupied until season’s end by unbeaten interim coach Josh Fraser. While Fraser won his sixth game on end as caretaker coach of the Blues, who easily accounted for the Eagles on Saturday, this masthead confirmed that Giansiracusa, the assistant who left Essendon last year to enhance his chances of becoming a senior coach, would not be a candidate for the Bombers role. The club has just established a five-member panel to select its next senior coach.

But Giansiracusa intends to pursue the Carlton senior coaching position, according to a well-placed source with a knowledge of his plans. Giansiracusa was a strong candidate for the Carlton senior coaching job in 2021, finishing third in the race behind eventual appointee Michael Voss and Adam Kingsley, the latter winning the Giants’ senior coach position the following year. The Hawks assistant had left the Bombers after 2025 in what was clearly a move to enhance his long-term prospects by joining a club in premiership contention.

Clubs seldom hire assistants at teams stuck on the ladder’s lower rungs, irrespective of their talents or how they present. Giansiracusa’s exit from Essendon was seen as a blow to the Bombers, who did not have many assistant coaches under Brad Scott with Giansiracusa’s resume or experience. He had been a member of the Bulldogs’ coaching team under Luke Beveridge when his old team broke their premiership drought in 2016.

He is Hawthorn’s head of development under Sam Mitchell. Essendon’s coach search has no stated preference for either those with senior coaching experience or assistant coaches. The Bombers will begin by speaking with 10 to 15 candidates, including former champion James Hird and what will likely be a raft of assistant coaches and potentially other ex-senior coaches.

The Bombers say that interim coach Dean Solomon has not yet declared whether he is a candidate for the role from 2027, but that the suggestion he has already been earmarked for the position by president Andrew Welsh is incorrect. Carlton’s search will focus mainly on what the Blues view as the most capable assistant coaches. Fremantle’s Jaymie Graham, Geelong pair James Kelly and James Rahilly, St Kilda’s Corey Enright, Brisbane’s Cam Bruce, Collingwood’s Hayden Skipworth, Giansiracusa and fellow Hawk assistant David Hale are among those who shape as potential candidates.

Ken Hinkley, John Longmire and Nathan Buckley have been spoken to by the Tasmania Devils about the 19th AFL team’s coaching role, an appointment not likely to be made until later this year and after the season. Longmire has not ruled himself in or out of the Carlton and Essendon roles, while Hinkley initially suggested that the Bombers should make a call on Hird first – whether they wanted him or not – before running a process with other candidates. Hinkley had declined Essendon’s overtures to be a senior lieutenant alongside Scott from late 2025.

Adam Simpson, another premiership coach, is part of the panel assessing Carlton’s coaches – he has a part-time role with the Blues – and has ruled himself out of both Carlton and Essendon’s senior coaching roles. Essendon’s five member panel consists only of Essendon officials: Welsh, chief executive Tim Roberts, board member and football director Ted Richards, vice president and ex-Melbourne Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro and human resources executive Caroline Monzon. The Bombers say that while they do not have any person from outside the club, Richards, an ex-Swans premiership player, and Di Pietro – who appointed coaches at A-League club the Victory – have experience outside of Essendon.

They said they intend to use external people to assistant the panel as well. Fraser has remained steadfast in his stance that he would not put his hand up for the Carlton role, despite the club’s stunning run since he replaced Michael Voss, and said after the Blues’ thumping win over the Eagles that his view had not changed. Carlton face Richmond at the MCG next Saturday night and should make it seven wins on end under Fraser.

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