Watson and Lyon’s assess the AFL’s “fascinating” coaching landscape

The AFL coaching landscape is heating up, with speculation mounting that Carlton and Melbourne could be preparing to move on from Michael Voss and Simon Goodwin if things don't improve at their respective clubs.

Tim Watson pondered rumours that Melbourne could be interested in Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge.

He wondered how the coaching merry-go-round could be full of strong candidates come season's end.

“Caroline Wilson doubled down on the fact that there is interest there from Melbourne,” Watson told SEN Breakfast.

“I don’t know how high-level that interest is, I don’t know who that interest is coming from.

“But let’s just say that it’s real and there’s the possibility that there may be some shuffling going on out there in the marketplace.

“'Bevo' could be out of the Bulldogs at the end of this season, we know that for sure. We know that there’s a possibility.

“We do know this - Carlton are sitting there with Michael Voss, we’ve got Melbourne sitting there with Simon Goodwin.

“Now we’ve got potentially theses coaches available at the end of the season - ‘Bucks’ (Nathan Buckley) is still sitting out there, you’ve got John Longmire, Adam Simpson, you’ve got ‘Kenny’ (Hinkley) who is going to be available at the end of the year too.”

Garry Lyon pointed to the unusually stacked pool of top-tier coaches potentially available at season’s end, particularly noting the success of Simpson and Longmire, plus the presence of Buckley and Hinkley.

“I think it’s fascinating that you’ve got premiership coaches who are sitting out there (who) have not ruled out coming back to coaching,” Lyon said.

“There's four highly-credentialed coaches.”

With the Blues and Demons potentially looking to find a new coach at some stage in the 2025 season, Watson suggested the race to secure the best available coach could start well before the season ends.

“We’ve seen this so many times before where one club believe they want to get in before anyone else if they’re thinking about a move,” Watson added.

“This is opening up the potential… who moves first, and if one moves what that may precipitate as well.

“In this merry-go-round situation nobody wants to be left behind. Everybody who is considering it will be hoping they get the No.1 pick - the person they want above all others - and not wait until the end of the season.

“This is the way football clubs have operated forever.

“Do you see that this is a possibility?

“Then throw into the mix that Tasmania is coming in... so if you're sitting there as a coach and Carlton, the Bulldogs, Melbourne and Tasmania becomes available, which do you take as first pick?”

To hear Lyon's answer and the full discussion, listen below: