BRENDON Gale's phone is running hot. But the new chief executive of Tasmania is both receiving and making plenty of calls.

He was the Devils' first major appointment last year and now he is tasked with deciding on the next set of key roles as the club and AFL eyes an entrance into the game for the 2028 season.

There's still hoops to jump through before that conditional licence is granted – mainly the build of the stadium – but the target remains that in three years from now the Devils are set for their first game. 

Some decisions on personnel in the football program remain further away than others, but the talks are heating up and Gale is getting to know the landscape. Here's some possibilities for who could fit the bill for the Devils.  

THE COACH

The most critical call, given the public and front-facing nature of the job. Whoever it is will have to tell and sell the story of the club, unite the state and wear the bumps. But this might be the last of the big decisions given the turbulent nature of the coaching landscape and which names may be available closer to the start date. Gale has already flagged what he wants in Tasmania's first coach.

"You have to spend a bit of time engaging, sharing the love and spruiking the gospel," he told AFL.com.au this month.

It screamed experience and rubber on the road, with Tasmania knowing there will be hard yards early. Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, who last coached the Magpies in 2021, is in the mix. John Longmire is sure to get a phone call from the Devils after stepping down from his post at the Swans, but can he wait until 2028 to coach again at AFL level when he will have suitors as early as this year?

Chris Fagan's contract at Brisbane runs out at the end of 2027, when he will be 66, and he told AFL.com.au this week "I don't think I'll ever coach anyone else other than Brisbane". A role on the coaching panel or at the club would be considered likely, though, for the Tasmanian.

Ken Hinkley will move on after 13 years at Port Adelaide at the end of this season and has a proven track record in connection with young teams and players across his coaching career, so should be considered. Premiership coaches Chris Scott and Craig McRae would also be on the Devils' whiteboard of targets. If Tasmania chose a more senior option instead of a first-time coach, expect the likes of Scott Pendlebury, Joel Selwood, Travis Boak and Patrick Dangerfield to be sounded out to bring gravitas as assistants and groomed as potential future senior coaches. 

Jade Rawlings is also a name to keep track of, with the former Richmond interim head coach and Taswegian’s coaching CV growing in recent years to include coaching Norwood to its 2022 SANFL premiership and joining Fremantle’s coaching panel at the end of last season.

FOOTBALL MANAGER

There are multiple models the Devils could take with this position. They had discussions with Graham Wright last year before he accepted the role as Carlton's next chief executive, but clubs use their football managers differently.

Jason McCartney at the Giants and Andrew Mackie at Geelong, for instance, are both footy and list boss, while Gale's former club, Richmond, effectively split the role into two with Tim Livingstone and Blair Hartley. It is a big job for Tasmania to get right given the all-encompassing nature of the position.

Having seen through Port's coaching succession plan and knocked back strong overtures in recent seasons, the Power's highly rated Chris Davies will be a target, as will the Western Bulldogs' Sam Power, although he is in the box seat to take on the football manager role there permanently soon.

Crows list manager Justin Reid and former Fremantle football boss Peter Bell were in the mix for the Collingwood football manager job recently, while Hawthorn's footy operations boss Max Bailey is highly regarded.

Would Fagan reprise his football manager role at Tasmania if he isn't interested in coaching beyond 2027, having steered Hawthorn's football department through its premiership three-peat? 

HEAD RECRUITER AND LIST MANAGER

There's lots with links to these important positions. The Devils already have Neville Stibbard and Matt Armstrong working as part-time recruiters but the big appointments are coming. It will depend if the Devils want to add a list manager and a recruiting manager, or combine the roles. The other complication is many clubs have locked in their recruiting and list managers on contracts, making it difficult to rip them out of their clubs.

Another wrinkle in the search is the large number of new appointments over the past 18 months, meaning it will be a challenge to twist the arm of someone new to a role or club. Derek Hine departed Collingwood after leading its recruiting for two decades and will be a candidate, while fellow recruiters Jason Taylor (Melbourne), Steve Conole (Brisbane) and Hamish Ogilvie (Adelaide) could also be targeted.

Tigers list boss Blair Hartley, who worked with Gale at Richmond throughout his tenure, will be staying at Punt Road. Todd Patterson, who built Melbourne's AFLW premiership list and a long-term member of its mens recruiting and list team, is Tasmanian and has been linked, while the likes of Brisbane's Dom Ambrogio, Melbourne's Tim Lamb and Port's Jason Cripps are also likely to be considered for approaches. Senior recruiters Scott Clayton, now at North, and Kinnear Beatson, at Sydney, could also be sought to add experience.