Burns, an unexpected shortlist candidate, joined caretaker coach John Barker and Hawthorn assistant Brendon Bolton in pitching to the subcommittee - headed by CEO Steven Trigg - in off-site meetings.

Burns is an under-the-radar candidate for the position, which Carlton is still some distance from finalising.

He is currently Collingwood's midfield coach and has previously worked as an assistant to John Worsfold at West Coast. He was among the lead candidates for the Adelaide senior coaching role before Brenton Sanderson was appointed.

The Blues still have other potential candidates they are interested in talking to. West Coast assistant Don Pyke has been linked to the job.

Pyke remained in Perth on Thursday and was preparing for Sunday's derby against Fremantle.

Bolton and Barker have long been seen as leading candidates for the job, for which Sydney assistant Stuart Dew has also been in the running. He has not been officially ruled out.

Dockers assistant Simon Lloyd is out of the running.

Carlton want to make an appointment before season's end, and have sought permission from clubs to interview the various candidates.

The panel consists of Trigg, Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou and former Blues Chris Judd and Ken Sheldon.

Hawthorn expects Bolton, who coached the Hawks to five wins during Alastair Clarkson's illness last year, would remain at Hawthorn until their finals campaign ends, potentially after the grand final.

But while the Hawks expect Bolton to coach out the season with them, as Luke Beveridge did (he had taken a new position at St Kilda before he was appointed Bulldogs senior coach), they have left open the possibility that he leave early if Bolton lands the Carlton job.

Carlton's coaching subcommittee will effectively determine the appointment by making a recommendation to the club board, which would endorse the recommendation.

Hawthorn, meanwhile, faces a battle to retain free agent Matt Suckling, who has been offered a hefty four-year contract by the Brisbane Lions.

Suckling, 26, has been offered a deal understood to average close to $400,000 a season – a deal that he can simply accept, with Hawthorn having no right to match and retain him because he is an unrestricted free agent.

If Suckling accepts the offer, however, the Hawks would be a strong chance to receive an end of first round draft selection, on the AFL's compensation formula, which uses the length and size of contract and a player's age to determine the draft pick that a team gets in return.

Suckling, a premiership player last year who recovered from a knee injury, is one of few Hawks who are yet to be contracted for 2016.

The other include veterans Brian Lake and David Hale.

However, dual premiership defender Ben Stratton has signed a three-year contract extension with the Hawks.

The deal will keep him at Hawthorn until the end of 2019.

"It was a pretty good feeling when the club came to me and sort of said, do you want to look at extending your contract?" the 26-year-oldtold the Hawks' website.

"There's a great bunch of blokes here, it's a really good environment to be around with a good culture," Stratton said.