Brisbane Lions set to promote Daly to football manager
Danny Daly is expected to replace David Noble as the new head of football at the Brisbane Lions.
Noble joined North Melbourne as senior coach after four seasons with the Lions where he oversaw a rebuild of the club alongside senior coach Chris Fagan.
Club sources confirmed Daly, who has been part of the Lions' coaching panel for the past six seasons, after successful stints as an assistant at North Melbourne and Richmond, was the favoured candidate for the position.
Danny Daly is in line to become the new head of football at Brisbane. Credit:Slattery Media
His appointment would allow the Lions to retain stability as they look to go deeper into the finals in 2021 after a preliminary final finish this season, having defeated eventual premiers Richmond in the qualifying final.
The Lions have risen to the top four in the past two seasons under Fagan, with Noble as football manager and a very stable coaching group including Daly, Jed Adcock, Murray Davis, Ben Hudson and Dale Tapping. Luke Hodge added some specialist coaching where required.
Daly is a well-regarded football person and has spent the past four seasons in a football strategy role after joining the Lions in 2015, a year after his former colleague Justin Leppitsch had moved from the Tigers to become the Lions' senior coach.
He had previously spent five seasons at Richmond after becoming an assistant at the Kangaroos, following a stint as a part-time forward scout at Collingwood.
Essendon remain on the hunt for a football manager to replace Dan Richardson, who parted ways with the Bombers after the club conducted an internal review, while experienced Collingwood football manager Geoff Walsh announced his retirement on Monday, leaving the Magpies post vacant for 2021.
Peter Ryan is a sports reporter with The Age covering AFL, horse racing and other sports.