MELBOURNE interim coach Neil Craig has confirmed he met with the club's coach selection panel on Wednesday about taking on the role permanent season.

But Craig said the meeting was a very "preliminary" discussion and that he was given, nor gave, any indication he was the man for the job.
Craig appears likely to put his hand up for the senior job next year, but said there was certain "criteria" that needed to match up before he'd wish to continue discussions.

The former Adelaide coach refused to identify which criteria he was referring to.

"There were some things that we discussed about where I saw the club at the current time and maybe some possibly changes going forward," Craig said.

"I was able to talk to (CEO) Peter Jackson and the other guys about possible requirements for myself if that was going to continue, and it may not continue.

"They have got their criteria about what they're looking for in terms of a senior coach ... I have got certain criteria that I would need for myself to be part of that.

"If they match up, that is fine, you continue with the discussions. If they don't match up, that is also fine."

Craig said he liked the idea of the club appointing a senior coach/understudy combination.

But if the Demons followed a similar path to Greater Western Sydney, where Leon Cameron is set to take over from Kevin Sheedy, Craig said the appointed senior coach would have to be fully aware of the club's intention.

"I think that is a good model, with the size of the industry now and the enormity of the job, to me that makes sense if you can find the right people to do that," he said.

"The guy who would be the mentoring-type coach, the senior coach, would have to be pretty secure in his own skin to do that ... you certainly wouldn't want that coach to be forced into that."

Craig, the longest serving coach in Adelaide's history, will play his part in the Crows' final game at AAMI Stadium as opposition coach.

He said it would be a "special" day and one he would cherish having played a significant part in the history of South Australian football.

"I'm really looking forward to it, having been involved in South Australian footy for a long time," he said.

"I remember when [AAMI Stadium] first opened and it will be an emotional day, I guess, for South Australia in a lot of ways and I'm just privileged to be part of it via the [Demons].

"To play the last game here against Adelaide, everything has been aligned to a certain extent in terms of personal indulgence."

But he said there would be no issue coaching against his old club, having done so previously earlier in his career.

"That emotional attachment is still there, but that is okay," he said.

"I have been through that before via SANFL coaching and that sort of thing, that is part of the industry."