Essendon land Longmire for head of performance role, Kangas zero in on their new coach

Essendon have pulled off a huge coup landing Sydney premiership coach John Longmire as their new head of performance.

Longmire will oversee football operations and work alongside first time coach Mark McVeigh who was an assistant coach for Longmire at Sydney. His responsibilities will include game strategy, player development, leadership, the coaching group, performance analytics and strength and conditioning.

His appointment is a massive coup for club president Andrew Welsh and CEO Tim Roberts as they look to rebuild the football department and attract players and coaches.

Longmire coached the Swans in five grand finals including the 2012 premiership after a stellar playing career with the Kangaroos. He stepped down as Sydney coach to make way for his successor Dean Cox at the end of 2024 and worked in a club performance role for the past two seasons.

He was a candidate to coach the Tassie Devils before Ken Hinkley was appointed coach but decided not to put himself in the race to become North Melbourne coach after Alastair Clarkson was sacked.

Longmire, 55, said he was excited to join the Bombers in a new role supporting the football department.

“I’ve known Mark [McVeigh] for a long time and have worked with him as well. He is passionate about the Bombers and has a clear vision for the team,” he said.

“I look forward to supporting both he and the staff as the club looks to take the necessary steps back towards being a consistent team who challenge the opposition every week.”

Longmire was prominent at the Swans as he supported key leaders at the club as they dealt with the fallout from the Pullman Hotel scandal where five players missed finals due to their behaviour after a round 23 match against the Bombers.

Giansiracusa among Kangaroos’ coaching candidates

Hawthorn development coach Daniel Giansiracusa is among the key candidates for North Melbourne’s vacant coaching position as the Kangaroos zero in on a new coach to replace Alastair Clarkson.

Giansiracusa has a strong coaching resume. He was at the Western Bulldogs when they won their drought breaking flag in 2016 and won the assistant coach of the year in 2020.

He then coached at Essendon in several line roles for five seasons before joining the Hawks as a development coach in 2026 as Hawthorn went within a minute of reaching the 2026 grand final.

Giansiracusa presented strongly for the Kangaroos job at the end of 2020 and is considered to combine a great football brain with an ability to form relationships. He has worked under Luke Beveridge, Brad Scott and Sam Mitchell since his 256-match career finished in 2014.

Geelong assistant and former Magpies coach Nathan Buckley impressed in his initial discussions with the Kangaroos and confirmed on grand final day he is going through the selection process while Dockers’ assistant Jaymie Graham is also in the mix.

The club also met recently with Cats’ premiership player Corey Enright who recently accepted an assistant coaching role back at Geelong after five seasons at St Kilda. The Cats are aware of his ambitions to be a senior coach.

North Melbourne are keen for Graham to present with club officials asking football people about the Fremantle assistant over grand final weekend. Graham was high on Carlton’s list before Josh Fraser earned the job with a strong presentation combined with a startling run as interim coach.

However the race is expected to be wide open for the gig.

Club leaders met recently with Kangaroos premiership player and Eagles’ premiership coach Adam Simpson before he withdrew his candidacy after being left at that meeting with the sense he was not the direction they wanted to take.

Buckley, who coached Collingwood into a 10th season before departing midway through 2021, interviewed for Melbourne’s job at the end of last season before joining Geelong as an assistant coach in 2026.

He was a candidate for the Tasmanian Devils coaching job before they opted to appoint Ken Hinkley.

Viney to head west as Eagles circle

Melbourne veteran Jack Viney will fly to Perth on Tuesday to tour West Coast’s facilities as he plots a move away from the Demons.

Having been told opportunities might dry up for him in the midfield next year as the Demons favour younger players, Viney is looking at moving.

He met with West Coast officials in Melbourne in the past week and was impressed with the pitch from coaches.

Essendon have also met with Viney. The Bombers would consider the 32-year-old a ready-made strong-bodied midfield replacement for Zach Merrett, who his likely to move to Hawthorn. Essendon is also attracted to Viney’s leadership, character and training standards to support their young playing group.

Their interest in Viney might now be redoubled after they missed out on securing Adelaide midfielder Luke Pedlar, who has requested a trade to cross-town rivals Port Adelaide.

The Bombers were in the hunt for the 24-year-old, who has not been able to cement a place in the Crows’ line-up, playing just 49 matches since being picked at No.11 in the 2020 national draft and battling a seriess of injury issues.

But Pedlar decided to remain in his home state and join the Power, who have lost star free agent Zak Butters to the Western Bulldogs.

The Bombers have several trade targets as new coach Mark McVeigh settles in the role. Essendon are also interested in Lions’ premiership midfielder Sam Marshall and Geelong midfielder Jack Bowes as they look to recast their midfield with Merrett’s likely exit.

The Bombers could also lose contracted defender Jordan Ridley, who has gained interest from Geelong and the Kangaroos. Ridley has played just 26 AFL matches in the past three seasons.

Melbourne midfielder Trent Rivers is also looking to move with one year left on his contract. He has been interested in joining the Brisbane Lions, given his partner is from Brisbane, but he has also had some interest from West Coast.

The trade period does not officially begin until next Monday, but talks have been underway for several months about possible trades and free agency moves. The free agency window opens this Friday, with the Giants’ Toby Greene, Gold Coast’s Ben King, the Lions’ Lachie Neale and Port Adelaide’s Butters all looking to move as free agents.

Greene and Neale can move as unrestricted free agents, but it remains to be seen whether the clubs losing restricted free agents King and Butters will accept compensation for losing the players or match the offers to force a trade.

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