IT'S BEEN an extraordinary month, hasn't it? Four coaches gone in four weeks. Makes you wonder what might happen next.

The focus of the season has taken a different spin and interest in the game is at an all-time high.

Not only does it look likely that a Victorian club may stand on the dais on grand final day for the first time since 2000, but four coaches are considering their futures and some champions of our game are doing likewise. Grant, Buckley, Harvey, Hird, Archer and Koutoufides are all pondering retirement.

What I do next has also attracted a little attention lately so I feel it's appropriate to lay on the table exactly where I sit. Not what you have heard, not what you have read, not rumours, gossip or innuendo, but fact. Let's start at the top. Despite popular opinion, I have not signed with Carlton. That is a presumption on other people's part. And I figure if it was so certain, I'd know something about it. I did meet with Carlton on Friday, but the talks were purely preliminary and took place simply because I was in Melbourne anyway to call last night's game on Channel Ten.

Another assumption was that my support team was in place and that it would be a simple matter of rolling it out when I was appointed. I can at least understand where this one came from. After all, I did say in answer to a question that I had a team in place.

The correct answer was that I have a clear picture in my mind about what model I would use going forward and the type of people and skill sets required to fill those roles should I decide to coach and get an opportunity sometime in the future.

A lot of people have jumped to the end of the story and asked "where will he coach?" when, in reality, I'm not even at the beginning of the story. It's all just speculation. Where all this started, I guess, was when in answer to another question at a lunch last month I said I didn't think it was necessary to serve a traditional apprenticeship as an assistant coach at an AFL club before becoming a senior coach.

It was all about challenging the established pathway and the belief that you've got to do it that way because that's the way it has always been done. Is there another way? Perhaps even a better way? I'm not saying you shouldn't do it or that I wouldn't do it that way if it were appropriate. I would do it for five years if it is necessary. I just don't believe it's the only way we can gain experience.

There was no time frame mentioned, yet the assumption has been that I was talking about next year. I wasn't. To me, it's all about a vision for what I may or may not do somewhere down the track.

At the time I made my comment, there were 16 AFL coaches gainfully employed and no clubs were looking for a new coach. It was a philosophical comment only, without any specific reference intended.

The discussion it has created has been immense — much more than I could have ever imagined. Now, with four coaches gone, it has exploded. So where does that leave the current situation?

To me, there is much to consider. I love what I am doing now. Channel Ten gave me an opportunity to join its AFL commentary team and to read the local sports news in Brisbane. I've had a chance to watch a lot of live football as a neutral observer, and to study how others go about it. The Channel Ten people have been sensational. I admire enormously the professionalism of the entire team, and appreciate the opportunity to learn new skills.

For me to be able to combine my specific love of AFL with my general love of all sports and actually earn a living is a dream. I would be happy doing it for as long as they'll have me, if that's the way things work out.

The only form of coaching I've had my head around in the past 12 months has been my assistant role at the AIS under Alan McConnell and spending time alongside former teammate Alastair Lynch and some very smart and experienced people in Brisbane developing a corporate leadership program.

I do have a passion for high performance. The prospect of coaching in the AFL appeals enormously, too: to share the knowledge I've gained; to enjoy the adrenalin rush that comes with competition; to share the winning and losing, and being part of a team that puts everything on the line.

When? I don't know. But I'd be foolish not to at least explore whether any of the clubs currently looking for a coach would like to have me. But until I meet the interested parties, I can't tell them that this is what I want to do next year.

Who is to say that I am the right fit or the best person for the job? Who is to say they are the best fit for me? I don't know that until I at least get to meet them.

So, if they want to talk, I'll happily talk. That's where this is at.

The one thing I know is that AFL coaching is an enormous job. It's a 100 per cent commitment 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The question is not whether I think I can do it, but whether I am ready to do it yet.