COREY Enright will prioritise landing the Carlton senior coach role ahead of Essendon's vacant position, having met with the Bombers this week as part of their coaching process.
The St Kilda assistant coach is considered one of the leading contenders for the Blues' coaching role but also met with Essendon in recent days in their first step of the Bombers' process.
However AFL.com.au can reveal that Enright has decided to prioritise the Carlton job, with the focus kept on targeting one role rather than both positions whilst also coaching at the Saints.
The former champion Geelong defender and six-time All-Australian is among the around six to eight coaching aspirants the Bombers plan to have met by the end of next week in the initial stage of their process, becoming the fourth person to be known to have met with the Bombers alongside Sydney assistant and former Bombers player Mark McVeigh, Adelaide assistant Murray Davis and ex-Essendon coach and captain James Hird.
Enright's call to focus on the Blues' vacancy follows a similar decision from his former Cats premiership teammate James Kelly, who earlier this month made the pursuit of the Blues role his No.1 priority over that of Essendon's, where he was a former player and assistant coach after his glittering Geelong playing career.
Enright, who has been highly regarded as an assistant with St Kilda and is the Saints' head of game plan and strategy under Ross Lyon, is one of the leading candidates for the Carlton role alongside Kelly, Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham and interim coach Josh Fraser if he puts his hand up officially for the position.
After missing out in his bid to be Tasmania's inaugural coach, Sydney's 2012 premiership coach John Longmire on Wednesday ruled himself out of pursuing the Essendon and Carlton roles. Neither club had progressed with Longmire as a contender of their respective searches.
Essendon is expected to narrow its number of candidates after round 21, with interim coach Dean Solomon still unwilling to declare his interest in the role after the Bombers' breakthrough win over Greater Western Sydney last week.
"Nothing's really changed at my end. There's a process that's started, they're meeting a lot of personnel and having conversations and coffees and discussing certain things. I haven't got to that point yet so nothing has really changed from my end," Solomon said on Thursday.
"There's a conversation piece that will happen between myself and (Essendon CEO) Tim  [Roberts] through some stage in the coming weeks as they venture further into the process, but nothing's happened."
