Mornings with Mark Duffield - FULL SHOW (06.10.2026)

Mark Duffield (0:03)

We're out here at Optus Stadium, Tuesday morning in Perth, and we are here thanks to Beaumont Homes, award-winning design, built to be loved forever. Gonna be a top of 27 degrees, mostly sunny in our city today, made in WA for WA. This is Mornings with Mark Duffield on SENWA.

Jaymie Graham will be North Melbourne's next senior coach. His acceptance press conference is just under way in Melbourne. And we're gonna go right there now and hear what Jaymie has to say about the new appointment.

Jen Watt (0:36)

We are just so thrilled to have you here. Welcome to our club. I'm gonna hand over to you. Thank you.

Jaymie Graham (0:41)

Thank you, Jen.

Thank you, Jen.

Yeah, I'm just super excited. I'm really grateful to Jen, Todd, the selection panel, Sonia and the board for believing in me and trusting me to take up a leadership role within this club. I'm genuinely excited. I'm nervous. I'm proud. Yeah, and really looking forward to this opportunity. It's something that I've dreamed on for a long time and I felt like I've landed in the right place. It's amazing how life works and I missed out on a few opportunities, but this opportunity has come up and things happen for a reason. And this place, I really feel like I belong already with the people I've met. I've got so many people I'd love to thank. I won't go out individually. I've got a lot of messages to return, but I probably wanted to talk about some of the environments that have influenced me and shaped me. Growing up, my grandparents in Kauguli, they helped shape who I am. And that environment has kept me grounded. And sometimes I might, I was talking a bit of slang, and it's from Kauguli.

The footy clubs I've been involved in, Mines Rovers Football Club, they're actually blue and white. There's the first club I played for, South Fremantle, North Fremantle, East Perth, St Kilda, West Coast and Fremantle. The club itself and the environments and the people within those clubs have, again, shaped me. It also shaped some of my philosophies and I've taken a bit from all of those places. I really want to highlight Fremantle. I haven't had a, it's weird, we were playing the grand final last week and I haven't had a chance to actually thank them and say goodbye yet and I'm sure I will, but I want to thank them for the care and support they showed our family over the five years. They helped invest in me as a person and a coach and they trusted me to do my job whilst being ambitious at the same time and I can't thank them enough for that.

To the staff who are here and to the players, first of all, I look forward to building relationships. That's my first job with you guys, getting to understand you as people and I can't wait to get to work when that starts in pre-season. To the fan base, you are one of the most passionate and loyal supporter base and I hope what we produce in 2027 will make you proud. And last but not least, to my family, I'm very lucky to have a job that I love and I couldn't do it without the support of them, Casey Hudson and Eve and can't wait to go on this journey together.

SPEAKER_4 (3:37)

Thank you.

Jen Watt (3:38)

If you've got any questions.

SPEAKER_4 (3:46)

I'm sort of senior coach, do you aspire to be?

Jaymie Graham (3:51)

I'm a relationship builder.

I want to create an environment which supports, guides, but yet challenges individuals to thrive and become their best self. I was putting the team first. And as far as footy philosophy goes, I'm a real system-based, role-based coach. And I believe that it takes a collective to get the job done.

SPEAKER_4 (4:15)

Talk us through the journey of going for a few jobs and just missing out each time, how challenging that would have been for you and how rewarding it is to finally get the call up to be an AFL senior coach.

Jaymie Graham (4:26)

Yeah, spot on. It's disappointing at the time. And I do want to say to the other candidates who applied for this job, I've been in that position and it's disappointing. So for them to also be disappointed to continue to remain ambitious, because it's about landing the right job. And I have a lot of respect for the other clubs.

Clearly, I wasn't the right person for them, but like I said, things happen for a reason. And this opportunity come up not long after. And yeah, really excited.