AFL great Jason Dunstall backs Nathan Buckley as the man Tasmania should call on as its first coach
AFL great Jason Dunstall has named who he thinks Tasmania must consider as its inaugural coach when the Devils join the competition in 2028.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
AFL legend Jason Dunstall says Tasmania would be “silly not to” look at Nathan Buckley as its inaugural coach.
Tasmania is set to enter the AFL competition in 2028 after winning the approval for its licence last year.
The debate as to who should be the first coach to steer the Devils has ramped up, but Dunstall believes Buckley should be one of the leading candidates.
“You would have to have a look at Nathan Buckley, would be silly not to,” Dunstall said.
He is certain the race to be Tassie’s inaugural coach will be a hot contest and trusts the process will be taken slowly.
“There will be some changes before then (2028), Ken Hinkley could be available, we know there’s a handover going on there, I think they’ll take their time,” he said.
“I think they’ll look at all the best options and eventually land on one, but they won’t be short of decent options.”
Three-time Richmond premiership player and proud Tasmanian Jack Riewoldt doesn’t expect the coach to be determined by the age profile of the list.
He believes the coach, along with other “critically important” roles, will be finalised early and that person will have a say on building the squad.
“The coach will be there before the players, the coach will be integral in selecting the squad,” he said.
“The list manager, the head of footy, all of those roles will be critically important to starting, so I would suggest they’ll have a say to the start-up mentality.
“Who’s got ideas, who’s been there and then collaborating them all together.”
Riewoldt thinks being the third expansion club in the men’s competition this century will only help the Devils.
“It’s about what you put around that whole structure and your playing list is the same,” he said.
“The best thing for us is that there’s Tasmanians playing AFL in the men’s and women’s competitions at the moment. If we can have access to some of them, hopefully they want to come home to their home state.
“But fundamentally as well, we’ve got two teams that have started of recent, then there’s a whole raft of new teams in the women’s competition.
“It gives us a great opportunity to look at how they’ve done it, pick the brains out of it and make sure we do it the right way and the Tasmanian way.”
Originally published as AFL great Jason Dunstall backs Nathan Buckley as the man Tasmania should call on as its first coach
Every Roo rated: Why this phenom can win the Brownlow
North Melbourne’s spike has to be around the corner. Who will stand up to take this club back to relevancy? Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane rate every Kangaroo.
Ricciuto: The word Crows are right not to mention
It’s shaping as a crunch season for Matthew Nicks and the Crows. Former skipper Mark Ricciuto says the club has already made one right move by avoiding one of the pitfalls of their 2024 campaign.