Who will be the AFLCA Coach of The Year for 2023?
That was the question on Dwayne Russell’s mind as the home and away season enters its final month.
Awarded annually since 2003, the Allan Jeans Senior Coach of the Year Award is decided on by all 18 senior coaches.
Each head coach gives out six votes per year, 3 to their top pick, 2 to second and 1 to third.
Collingwood’s Craig McRae won in 2022 after leading the Magpies to the top four after they finished 17th the year prior.
Russell believes there’s a few surprise contenders this season and he named his four most likely coaches to win the award.
The SEN host based his rankings off ladder position, whether coaches have exceeded pre-season exception and what they’ve gotten out of their playing lists.
Check out Russell’s top four below.
Ross Lyon (St Kilda)
“I think Ross Lyon's a contender for coach of the year.
“A lot of people think that. ‘No, he's taken over a list that was ready to play finals last year’.
“They were 10th last year, St Kilda, they’ve jumped fifth right now.
“You can say they're not a contender for the flag, and you can say they're gonna drop out of the eight, but they're fifth, they're up five spots.
“They've been injuries, a lot of injuries. They've barely had Max King who we think is going to be back this week.
“It could be Ross Lyon.”
Adam Kingsley (GWS)
“I've got Adam Kingsley at two.
“He's coached the Giants up from 16th last year to sixth this year. Up 10 spots on the ladder.
“That's the only reason I've got those two ahead of Craig McRae.”
Craig McRae (Collingwood)
“Craig McRae I think is third on the list.
“Fourth last year, first right now in 2023. Up three spots.
“I think the expectation was that Collingwood would be a contender this year.
“He’s done an awesome job, Craig McRae, and they're up there top of the ladder.
“If you want to tell me it's Craig McRae, that's fine.
Ken Hinkley (Port Adelaide)
“I've got Ken Hinkley at four.
“11th last year, up to second this year. Up nine spots.
“But it is going to be interesting to see what happens if this losing streak continues.
“It’s now three in a row and could end up being four against the Cats this week.”
As Kingsley is a rookie coach, he has never won the award before while Lyon (2009), McRae (2022) and Hinkley (2013, 2020) are all previous winners.
If Hinkley does win for a third time, he’ll become the first coach in the award’s history to do so.