AFL 2020: Daniel Giansiracusa in the race for North Melbourne job

Another candidate for the North Melbourne head coach job has been revealed, with an initial list of 30 now whittled down to just three.

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 11: Daniel Giansiracusa of the Bulldogs looks on during the round 12 AFL match between the Port Adelaide Power and the Western Bulldogs at Adelaide Oval on June 11, 2016 in Adelaide, Australia. (Photo by Morne de Klerk/Getty Images)

AFL Coaches Association assistant coach of the year Daniel Giansiracusa is the third candidate for North Melbourne’s vacant coaching position.

The Roos have whittled down an initial list of around 30 candidates to a short list that the Herald Sun understands has Giansiracusa as a contender alongside Robert Harvey and David Noble.

Giansiracusa has moved to Essendon as an assistant coach after five seasons as an assistant at the Western Bulldogs, where he transitioned seamlessly into coaching after a 265-game career.

In 2020 he was set to continue coaching the Bulldogs’ Footscray VFL side after taking them into the finals in 2019 but after the season was scrapped he moved into working on opposition analysis as he also coached the club’s match simulation games.

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Daniel Giansiracusa is in line for the North job. Picture: Mark Stewart

The 38-year-old was poached by Essendon to work under new coach Ben Rutten but has permission to chase the North Melbourne job vacated by Rhyce Shaw.

Shaw was a two-time AFLCA coach of the year in his time at Sydney before moving to North Melbourne, where he took over from Brad Scott when he moved on.

The Roos have been adamant they are interested in all types of coaches, including those with vast senior experience and those who have not coached their team.

But Giansiracusa has a strong blend of tactical acumen and man management skills as well as having coached his own side in the VFL.

The AFLCA award is voted on by coaches and players and recognised the “sizeable contribution” made by Giansiracusa performing a variety of roles.

Harvey has drawn rave reviews as the Pies midfield coach, while former Dogs and Glenelg coach Noble worked at Adelaide as its head of football before taking up the same position at the Lions.

He has the Lions’ blessing to become a senior coach after saying only weeks ago he wanted to go down the path of becoming an AFL chief executive before changing his mind on exploring the Roos’ position.

North Melbourne football boss Brady Rawlings told a club Q and A session last week the Roos weren’t ruling out any candidate.

“I think the main thing is that we didn’t look at one type of coach in this process. We wanted to scour the competition, even outside of the competition and look at left field candidates as well,” he said.

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“We didn’t want to miss out on a potential coach that’d be a great fit for us in North Melbourne. We didn’t look purely at age or purely at experience in the senior coaching role.

“We looked at all different types of candidates, so we really cast a net for potential candidates and then we started to narrow in on the ones we’d like to take to phase one. The panel’s been together for two to three weeks now, a very collaborative process.

“We come up with a criteria that we want to select our coach on, and yeah, we’re really confident, the position we’re currently in, that within the next week to two we hope to narrow that down and hopefully will announce the senior coach within maybe a fortnight.”

Originally published as AFL 2020: Daniel Giansiracusa in the race for North Melbourne job