Collingwood have reportedly approached Port Adelaide's General Manager of Football, Chris Davies to take over from the club's current footy boss Graham Wright.
The story was broken Monday night on Channel Nine'sย Footy Classified,ย Caroline Wilson detailing the concerns facing the Collingwood football club since their 2023 premiership.
Since last September, the club have experienced quite a tumultuous period at board level, with chairman Jeff Browne sharing his potential plan to step down, rumours swirling of a parting of ways with CEO Craig Kelly and Graham Wright taking extended leave, with talks of his exodus.
Caroline Wilson reports Collingwood has approached Port Adelaide Footy Boss Chris Davies to replace Graham Wright. #9FootyClassified | Live on 9Now ๐ฅ๏ธ pic.twitter.com/z7pqdimASv
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) September 2, 2024
"Collingwood are very lucky Melbourne have come along," Wilson said onย Footy Classified.
"If I were to say after the premiership last year that, within a year, the chairman would announce he's going in a very short time, the CEO was being investigated for a workplace incident, the head of footy would take a year off and then never come back. The person they put as list manager, Justin Leppitsch would be at odds (with recruitment)... you would say 'what a fall from grace'.
"We know that Jeff Brown and his board are running the recruitment to try and reset the footy department... we can report tonight that the Port Adelaide football boss, Chris Davies has been approached by the Collingwood board to take over as head of footy."
Kane Cornes highlighted how Port Adelaide footy boss, Chris Davies, is on the radar of more clubs than just Collingwood, but is happy at Port Adelaide.
Being South Australian, the appeal of Collingwood as the most famous sporting club in Australian may not sway Davies to rethink his future plans, but it is a grand opportunity nonetheless.
The Power will likely take no part in the discussion, especially as their side prepare for a potential premiership push, currently eyeing off Thursday night's home Qualifying final against Geelong.
For Collingwood, pressure mounts as the board face growing scrutiny, while the club's playing list reaches a cross-roads, with a wealth of ageing veterans to celebrate but few exciting youngsters to rally behind Nick Daicos.
This off-season will be a critical period for recruitment, both at the draft and free agency tables, if Craig McRae and Collingwood are to scale the September summit again in 2025.
