Mark Duffield - The Editorial (06.10.2026)

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The Hulu original series, The Kardashians, is back. Season eight, isn't it great?

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This year has been insane. Have you dated anyone privately?

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Let me just say this. I can't control myself.

What about you? I'm single, I might be ready to mingle.

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Of course I'm getting more action than Glowy. You think I walk around with this smile on my face for nothing? Oh my God.

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Season eight premieres October 8th, streaming on Hulu and Hulu One Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.

Mark Duffield (0:30)

Yes, welcome back to the SENWA studio. So as we just learned, Jamie Graham will be North Melbourne's next senior coach. So I guess the question we're asking now, is this a plum job that first timers would be queuing up for, or is this a troubled club fraught with danger for a rookie? So let's take a look. There are some questions being asked about North following the way the club handled the sacking of four-time Premiership coach Alistair Clarkson. And the main question being asked is, did they need to be so blunt and brutal as they spoke of gaping holes in the game plan, as they gave their reasons for parting company with one of the most successful AFL coaches in history a year out from the end of his contract? So North has a playing list that has not played finals since 2016, and before this season had not finished higher than third last since 2019 And a club with that sort of performance profile has one thing going for it and one thing that will stand in its way. The thing that's going for it is that it will have a bank of young talent, and the Roos certainly have that.

It will not have a winning culture, and that can sometimes get in the way. And even this year when the club shook itself free of the bottom end of the ladder and won nine games, there were times when North found ways to lose when they really should have won.

But the exciting part for Graham, and the part should make this job a better one than the Essendon job he missed on, is the talent. So the Roos midfield is stacked, and many of us think it is about to pop. Tristan Cherry leads the ruck, and he has Luke Davies-Uniak, Harry Schiesel, Jai Simken, and Colby McCurtcher available as ground level mids. Finno Sullivan will enter his third season in the AFL in 2027 as another highly rated youngster. They have a primary target in attack, Nick Larky, and they have one of the game's most talented small to mid-size forwards in Paul Curtis. He can stand on your head, he can give you a fend off, and he's a very good tackler. And they also have a valuable contributor at either end in Kam Zerha, who's been used as a forward for most of his career, but was tried as a mid-sized defender this year. It is a list with holes, but it is a list with much more going for it than the win-loss in recent seasons would indicate. And that even includes last year's 9-14 season, which many saw as a significant step forward for the club. I think this is a better club for Jamie Graham to get the gig with than Essendon would have been. There is no reason why the North Injun Room can't hold its own against pretty much any Injun Room in the AFL, and therefore there is no reason why Jamie Graham can't do something similar to what Josh Fraser has been able to do since taking the reins at Carleton mid-season. So Graham gets the gig at a club with Upside, and one of the other contenders for the North job before he opted out was Nathan Buckley, who is now in the running for a job which looks great on paper, the Brisbane job, but a job which technically only has downside. The Lions have been premieres for three seasons and grand finalists for four. Anything less than that is going to be viewed as a step down. But Buckley is nothing if not a survivor, and he's somehow still in coaching job reckoning when Premiership coaches like Adam Simpson are being brushed aside. Buckley is still involved as footy as a coach, albeit an assistant at Geelong, and perhaps that is a point that has counted heavily in his favour. He's made a decision to stay involved in a rapidly evolving sport.

As I said, he remains in contention for the Lions' job if sources are to be believed. They may still feel the vacancy left by Chris Fagan from within. Danny Daly has coaching aspirations. Cameron Bruce is also highly thought of after being one of Fagan's senior assistants during the team's Premiership run.