Queenslanders Murray Davis and Daniel Pratt have taken the next step towards a senior AFL coaching job.
Davis, senior assistant coach at Adelaide, and Pratt, defensive coach at the Western Bulldogs, are among 14 hopefuls selected to join the AFL’s revamped Elite Coach Program.
So too is Shaun Grigg, Damien Hardwick’s right-hand man at the Gold Coast SUNS, and former Brisbane Lions development coach Zane Littlejohn, now at North Melbourne.
They join a hot list of coaching hopefuls which also includes current Carlton interim assistant coach Josh Fraser and former caretaker coaches Jaymie Graham, Troy Chaplain, Mark McVeigh and Leigh Adams.
Others to be part of the elite program are ex-Lions player Xavier Clarke, Hayden Skipworth, Joel Corey, Corey Enright, and Jamie Maddocks.
The Elite Coach Program aims to prepare prospective senior coaches for the rigours of the top job, including leadership and club culture, media performance, managing a football department and understanding the broader AFL industry.
It replaces the Level Four program that began in 2015 and ran for several years until 2023, helping to upskill senior coaches including Simon Goodwin, Matthew Nicks, Justin Longmuir and Adam Kingsley.
The 2026 intake of the Elite Coach program will take part in an induction day on June 24, and will attend a dinner with AFL CEO Andrew Dillon and executive general manager football performance Greg Swann.
Ironically, Davis and Pratt are both products of the extended Aspley/Northern Eagles family.
Davis played and coached there before time with the NT Thunder in the NEAFL led him to a key role in with current Chris Fagan playing group at the Lions, which finished with the 2024 premiership.
Pratt, inducted to the Queensland Football Hall of Fame in 2023, has coached in the AFL system at West Coast and the Bulldogs since 2014 after playing 119 games with Brisbane and North Melbourne from 2001-11.
2026 Elite Coach Program intake
Murray Davis (Adelaide)
Josh Fraser (Carlton)
Leigh Adams (Carlton)
Hayden Skipworth (Collingwood)
Jaymie Graham (Fremantle)
Joel Corey (Fremantle)
Shaun Grigg (Gold Coast)
Troy Chaplin (Melbourne)
Zane Littlejohn (North Melbourne)
Xavier Clarke (North Melbourne)
Corey Enright (St Kilda)
Mark McVeigh (Sydney)
Daniel Pratt (Western Bulldogs)
Jamie Maddocks (West Coast)