Hawthorn assistant David Hale has emerged as a new name in the mix for North Melbourne’s vacant coaching position.
Hale would be viewed as somewhat of a ‘trendy’ appointment, too, with former ruckman currently all the rage as senior AFL coaches.
Former Geelong big man Steven King — in his first year in the top job at Melbourne this season — was an undeniable success. And Carlton couldn’t hire former Collingwood ruck Josh Fraser quickly enough after he took the reins from Michael Voss and immediately catapulted the Blues up the ladder.
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Sydney coach Dean Cox, one of the all-time great ruckmen, has endured a tough time in the chair at the Swans over the past two years, but has been widely applauded for galvanising the club during a traumatic period.
And former forward-ruck Justin Longmuir obviously did a brilliant job with Fremantle this year, falling agonisingly short of a first flag for his club.
Gun 7NEWS sports reporter Tom Morris revealed on Wednesday that Hale was “certainly in the mix to coach North Melbourne”, alongside Nathan Buckley (former Collingwood coach and current Geelong assistant), Jaymie Graham (Fremantle assistant) and Daniel Giansiracusa (Hawthorn assistant).
David Hale is a contender for the North Melbourne coaching job. Credit: Getty
“I believe there’s a name for the North Melbourne coaching process that hasn’t been mentioned,” Morris said on SEN.
“What we can tell you this morning is that David Hale is in the mix. David Hale is an assistant coach at Hawthorn, coached Freemantle very briefly (for one game in 2019) … as an interim coach, and he’s been around the mark for a couple of coaching jobs in the last couple of years.
“If he hasn’t had a coffee catch-up, he will … present in the next period of time, and I’m told he’s a very good presenter too.
“So that is four names, I’m not sure if there’s a fifth name, but those are the only four names I can confirm are in the mix to succeed Alastair Clarkson as North Melbourne coach.
“He is one of the most highly regarded assistant coaches around the league. So, look, I don’t have him in front of Jaymie Graham. I don’t have him in front of Nathan Buckley, but he’s he’s certainly in the mix to coach North Melbourne.”
Former Hawthorn midfielder Tom Mitchell said Hale had legitimate “footy smarts”.
“I didn’t have a whole lot to do with him because he was more working with the forwards as a line coach. But I did really like some of the tactical things he did bring across from Fremantle to Hawthorn,” Mitchell said.
“I really like some of his his footy smarts. I think he was a really smart footballer himself when he played throughout that Hawthorn premiership era …
“He played as that second ruckman tall forward, was a smart player and from a tactical point of view, brought some really cool things across from Fremantle to Hawthorn.”
Hale was a North Melbourne player (129 games in the blue and white stripes) before he joined Hawthorn ahead of the 2011 season.
He played in Hawthorn’s four consecutive grand finals from 2012 to 2015, winning three premiership medals during that golden period for the Hawks.
He retired at the end of 2015 and immediately joined Fremantle as an assistant coach under Ross Lyon, and coached that one game in 2019 when Lyon was sacked.
He has been a line coach for the Hawks for the past three seasons but this year moved into the role of strategy and opposition.
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