Collingwood assistant coach Mark Neeld was appointed to the Melbourne senior coaching vacancy. Neeld, 40, was seen as a leading contender for the vacancies at Melbourne, Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs, with Melbourne securing his services on the back of a strong list and great premiership potential in the short to medium future.
At Adelaide, West Coast assistant and former Collingwood captain Scott Burns was the early favourite for the Adelaide job, but Geelong assistant coach, Brenton Sanderson, was confirmed after the story was leaked to the media. Sanderson becomes the first former Crows player to coach Adelaide.
Sanderson, 37, was in the last three candidates for the Western Bulldogs position, won by another former Geelong assistant Brendan McCartney. Sanderson immediately stepped down as a Geelong assistant coach, a role he had held for the past five years.
McCartney's rise to senior coaching ranks started when AFL umpires' boss Jeff Gieschen first hired him as an assistant coach at Richmond after they struck up a relationship when McCartney was coaching in Geelong's local league. Since then McCartney has forged a reputation as a great tactician and motivator during Geelong's sustained period of success.
