North Melbourne confirms Graham appointment

North Melbourne has confirmed the appointment of Jaymie Graham as its new senior coach.

In a letter to members, Kangaroos president Dr Sonja Hood announced the Fremantle assistant as the successor to Alastair Clarkson.

It is understood that Graham has signed a three-year deal with the Roos.

See the letter from Hood below:

Dear members and supporters,

I’m delighted to announce that Jaymie Graham is the new senior coach of our AFL team.

You’ll learn more about Jaymie’s personal and football journey in the coming days and weeks, but let me say he has the resilience to handle the relentless toils of the football environment, carrying the exact kind of grit we value at North Melbourne.

As a coach, Jaymie is a process-driven leader with a quiet, grounded presence, sharp attention to detail, and a clear football vision.

Outside of his exceptional character, he joins us with a proven skill set. He played a key role in West Coast’s 2018 premiership success, and more recently he was the line coach for one of the competition’s best forward lines at Fremantle as part of a high-performing program.

He is widely respected across the industry as a developer of talent and a connector of people - someone who builds strong player relationships instantly and earns respect through his actions.

Our selection panel – chaired by Jennifer Watt and comprising Todd Viney, Andrew Swallow, Nick Dowling, Darren Crocker, and Steele Sidebottom – felt the alignment of Jaymie’s personal values with those of our club, along with all of his extensive football credentials and clear capabilities, made him the very best person to take our club forward.

We want to sincerely thank the high-calibre candidates who took part in this process.

I also want to say thank you to you, our members, for your patience over the past few weeks. We know that this process can bring a natural sense of uncertainty. We are grateful for the faith and trust you have shown while we worked through a thorough process to get this right.

Jaymie arrives at our club at a time the foundations are well and truly set and will lead a playing group ready to roll up their sleeves. Jaymie will get to work straight away, engaging in our trade and draft activities.

Please join me in welcoming him to our club.

Go Roos!

Sonja

In-demand assistant set to land North Melbourne job

By Tom Morris

Jaymie Graham is set to be unveiled as North Melbourne coach as soon as this week, with only the final details still to be ticked off before the club formalises the appointment.

It's understood Graham interviewed exceptionally on Saturday, and North's panel has settled on him as the club's preferred candidate.

The Roos are believed to have communicated to the 43-year-old on the weekend that he is their guy.

But until it's ratified at board level, they will not tell the unsuccessful candidates. This stage of the process is considered a formality.

Graham has been highly touted across his time at West Coast and Fremantle and beat out a field which included David Hale, Daniel Giansiracusa and Xavier Clarke.

Clarke interviewed late last week, while Hale interviewed across the weekend.

Graham played 37 games at the Eagles before playing WAFL and then embarking on a coaching career which began at St Kilda in Scott Watters' era.

He then moved to West Coast under Adam Simpson - and coached East Perth in 2016 - before switching to the Dockers ahead of the 2022 season.

Graham ran close for the Essendon senior coaching gig and Carlton's vacancy recently. He was the only candidate to go deep for both jobs, before missing out to Mark McVeigh and Josh Fraser.

"It was a great experience," Graham said of the two coaching processes last month on AFL Nation.

"I was bloody busy for a month there and I actually did get some advice from Ken along the way which I really appreciated.

"I learned a lot about myself because you're reflecting on your own philosophies and then having to sit in front of a group of people and share those philosophies and present them.

"They were well received, I clearly didn't get the nod but got positive feedback about the way I went about it and presented so it's just a matter of right time, right opportunity, hopefully in the future when they come."

Hinkley also gave a glowing endorsement of Graham.

"Jaymie Graham will absolutely be a senior coach in his own right at some point," he said.

"He's too good not to be. He's just got to be patient. The right team will find him."

North Melbourne has been contacted for comment.