Buckley’s stance on Demons job after Longmire and Simpson bow out

Adam Simpson has ruled himself out of coaching for next year at the very least.

The West Coast premiership coach has been linked with the newly-created vacancy at Melbourne after Simon Goodwin parted ways with the Demons last week.

Former Sydney coach John Longmire has also ruled himself out of the running and now Simpson similarly says he will not be returning to the coaching caper anytime soon.

“I don’t want to coach next year,” Simpson said on SEN WA Breakfast.

“I think I’ll give it a spell. I was thinking through it over the weekend and I know ‘Horse’ (Longmire) has done the same thing.

“It just doesn’t feel like it’s the right time to be available.”

Simpson says he has not yet heard from the Demons which has made his decision a little bit easier.

He plans to stay in the media for the foreseeable future where he has performed so well for SEN and Fox Footy this year.

“They haven’t called me,” he added. “And sometimes you wait for these things because you might think, ’I’m not interested’, but then you get the phone call and you go, ‘Oh hang on, I’m wanted’, and then you sort of pivot in a different way.

“I’ve had a good think about it and I’m just not in the right headspace with it. I’m enjoying all this.

“It’s the same things that Horse (said) really. He’s a bit different, it’s only been eight months for him, it’s been a bit longer for me.

“The passion to go through all the process, because once you get approached it’s turbo and you need to really be prepared. I’m not really prepared and not in the right headspace.

“I’ll continue to do this if this is part of my brief next year. I feel like that’s the path I’m taking at the moment.”

Simpson departed the Eagles in July 2024 and is enjoying his time out of the pressure-cooker world of senior AFL coaching.

With Simpson and Longmire now out of the way, there is a clear path for Nathan Buckley according to some corners of the media.

But has it piqued Buckley’s interest further that the pair of premiership coaches are out of the race?

“No, I don’t think it’s really that relevant,” Buckley said on SEN’s Whateley.

“I’m not going to do blow by blow as we go through this. I’ve been out of coaching for a little bit longer so I know exactly where they (Simpson and Longmire) are at.

“I’m still working out whether I’m there or whether I’m in. I’m well and truly on the fence.

“One thing I do know in this system and this process is the truth is the first casualty and everyone is looking for the next answer, the next step in the process before it has actually occurred. The last thing I’m going to get caught up in is going blow by blow.

“What I would say is that there’s not one outcome for the Melbourne Football Club that’s going to be positive for them. There’s a raft of really good options, and there’ll be a raft of really good eventualities.

“I’m prosecuting whether I’m one of them for them. And they’ll be doing their due diligence as they should do, they’ll run the process on their time and agenda as they’ve got every right to do.”

Buckley is acutely aware that his role in the media will magnify his presence in the race for the Demons job.

“I do understand what it’s become because you’ve got a microphone in front of you a couple of time a week, every little turn and change and new information - that may or may not be true - is seemingly going to change the landscape a little bit,” he added.

“I’m not worried about that because I think what’s actually happening is more important. Sometimes that can be a long way from what the headline is.”