Nathan Buckley has his eyes set on coaching the Tasmania Devils, saying he was prepared to sacrifice getting the Melbourne top job as part of the process.
The former Collingwood mentor, who is firming by the day to be the island state's inaugural AFL coach, was scheduled to meet with Devils' CEO Brendon Gale on Tuesday.
The meeting comes a day before a major report into the Hobart Macquarie Point stadium, a condition of the Devils being granted a licence, is set to be released.
Buckley said he understood Melbourne's decision to appoint Steven King as their next coach, revealing he asked the Victorian club for more time to consider the position.
"I was more attracted to the Tasmania job than I was the Melbourne job," Buckley told Fox Footy.
"Ultimately I had to risk sacrificing an opportunity to coach Melbourne to keep an opportunity to coach Tasmania.
"Melbourne rightfully made a decision on a coach who was all in and wanted to do the job."
The Devils are scheduled to enter the AFL in 2028, but Gale has indicated the club could sign a coach at any point if the fit is right.
"Behind the scenes I've had a few chats with Brendon (Gale)," Buckley said.
"An opportunity to build something from scratch is an opportunity that doesn't come around too often. I'd love to be involved in the Tasmanian process and that journey."
The club faces another critical juncture on Wednesday when Tasmania's planning commission releases its final report into the $945 million waterfront stadium.
The report will be the most detailed assessment of the project to date and will include recommendations about whether it should go ahead, or if anything needs to be tinkered with.
The recommendations aren't binding, but the report is viewed as a guide for the parliamentary vote on the project, which is expected later this year.
The governing state Liberals and Labor opposition both support the stadium, but it will need the backing of several undecided independents to get through the upper house.
The AFL has stuck solid with their "no stadium, no team" mantra.
The Devils are pushing ahead with building a club, and recently announced they would enter the VFL and VFLW competitions in 2026.
They are also in the process of building a high-performance centre south of Hobart, and in March unveiled their mascot, Rum'un.
