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Hawthorn assistant coach Daniel Giansiracusa will not be in the running for the Essendon coaching job but is expected to be a candidate for the Carlton role, which will be held by unbeaten interim coach Josh Fraser until the end of the season.
While Fraser won his sixth game in a row as interim coach of the Blues, who easily saw off the Eagles on Saturday, the headline confirmed that Giansiracusa, an assistant who left Essendon last year to boost his chances of becoming senior coach, would not be a candidate for the Bombers’ job. The club has just formed a five-member panel to select the next senior coach.
Hawthorne’s assistant Daniel Giansiracusa is highly commended.Getty Images
But Giansiracusa is set to take over as Carlton’s head coach, according to a well-placed source familiar with his plans.
Giansiracusa was a strong candidate for the Carlton head coaching job in 2021, finishing third in the race behind future appointee Michael Voss and Adam Kingsley, with the latter taking up the Giants head coaching job next year.
The Hawks assistant left the Bombers after 2025 in what was clearly a move aimed at improving his long-term prospects by joining a club with premiership ambitions. Clubs rarely hire assistants for teams stuck at the bottom of the ladder, regardless of their talent and how they present themselves.
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Giansiracusa’s departure from Essendon was seen as a blow to the Bombers, who under Brad Scott did not have many assistant coaches with Giansiracusa’s resume or experience. He was part of Luke Beveridge’s Bulldogs coaching team when his old side broke their Premiership drought in 2016.
He is Hawthorn’s Head of Development under Sam Mitchell.
When looking for a coach, Essendon does not give preference to those with senior coaching experience or to assistant coaches. The Bombers will start by talking to 10 to 15 candidates, including former champion James Hird and likely a host of assistant coaches and possibly other former senior coaches.
The Bombers say interim coach Dean Solomon has yet to say whether he is a candidate for the job from 2027, but the suggestion that president Andrew Welsh has already nominated him for the job is incorrect.
Carlton’s search will focus primarily on those the Blues consider to be the most capable assistant coaches. Fremantle’s Jamie Graham, Geelong pair James Kelly and James Rahilly, St Kilda’s Corey Enright, Brisbane’s Cam Bruce, Collingwood’s Hayden Skipworth, Jansiracusa and fellow Hawke assistant David Hale are among the potential candidates.
The Tasmania Devils have spoken to Ken Hinckley, John Longmire and Nathan Buckley about the coaching role of the 19th AFL team, but the appointment is unlikely to be made until later this year and beyond the season.
Longmire has not ruled himself out for Carlton and Essendon, while Hinckley initially suggested the Bombers should call Hird first – whether they want him or not – before starting the process with other candidates.
Hinckley turned down an offer from Essendon to become a first lieutenant alongside Scott from the end of 2025. Adam Simpson, another premiership coach, is on the panel assessing Carlton coaches (he is a part-time Blues player) and has ruled himself out of senior coaching roles at both Carlton and Essendon.
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The five-member Essendon panel is comprised of Essendon officials only: Welsh, chief executive Tim Roberts, board member and director of football Ted Richards, Melbourne Victory vice-president and former chairman Anthony Di Pietro and human resources chief Caroline Monzon. The Bombers say that while they do not have anyone from outside the club, Richards, a former Swans premiership player, and Di Pietro, who appointed coaches at A-League side Victory, have experience outside Essendon. They said they also intend to use outside people as assistants to the commission.
Fraser remained steadfast in his stance that he would not put his hand up for the Carlton role despite the club’s stunning momentum since replacing Michael Voss, and said after the Blues’ thumping win over the Eagles that his opinion had not changed.
Carlton face Richmond at the MCG next Saturday night and should make it seven wins in a row under Fraser.
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Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL columnist for The Age.Connect via X or e-mail.