North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has opened up on his continued rebuild at Arden Street, as well as the ongoing Hawthorn racism scandal in a transparent interview with Fox Footy.
Clarkson, who joined the Kangaroos at the start of 2023, has bared the front of criticism on the club’s lack of success in the last 18 months – but has revealed he is better off from his experience at Hawthorn in the early 2000s.
And the four-time Hawks premiership coach also gave comment on the future of Harry Sheezel as an Arden Street leader, and the Brownlow hopes in of Rising Star nominee George Wardlaw beyond 2025.
Watch every game of every round this Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
“What has happened to our great game!” | 03:35
A member of Clarkson’s re-build 20 years ago at Hawthorn, On The Couch host Ben Dixon highlighted the former Hawks coach’s success with an internal roadmap to success, and asked him what “new hurdles” come with coaching another young group.
“People probably forget that our first couple of years at the Hawks – despite internally believing, which is the case at North Melbourne too – the external pundits were pretty critical of the way we were going about it,” Clarkson begun by saying.
“I think I am (in a better position from the 2004 re-build) … it’s not just me, we’ve got Todd Viney there as the footy manager, who has been through the exact same thing at the Hawthorn and Melbourne footy club.
“The really pleasing part for me is I’ve been able to find my purpose again in terms of what I think I can contribute to this group of lads,” after opening up to group.
Not long after joining the Kangaroos last year, Clarkson – among others – was subject to allegations of racism during his tenure as senior coach at Hawthorn, which resulted in the coach stepping away from the role for a notable period of time in 2023.
The 56-year-old noted that while he has had to concede there are elements of the narrative that he cannot change in the foreseeable future, he has still been well supported by his new club.
“It started out with good intentions when I first arrived at North, but within a month of me arriving there, this Hawthorn (racism) saga hit the landscape; and despite that not going totally away, there’s not much we can control about that until it’s decided whether it gets to a Federal Court or otherwise,” Clarkson continued.
“I’ve been really fortunate that North have been so supportive and given me a great lot of support in terms of that issue, but also support in terms of the slow burn it’s going to be to get ourselves to being really, really competitive again.
“That sense of purpose is what I outlined to the players; there was probably this little bit of uncertainty (with the saga). When you go through a situation like I did, where you invested so much and felt like you just gave your all to every part of that build at Hawthorn; to then have what happened and that little bit of doubt in these allegations is like: “Geez, do I actually want to give everything I’ve actually got here and be burnt again?”
And while he held his doubts, the premiership coach stayed committed to the re-build at North, with his desire to see his tough ask through clicking mid-year.
Clarkson outlines path for the Kangaroos | 08:17
“It was probably the mid-part of the year where I’ve got to be all in here; if I don’t go all in here with these players, then I don’t think we’re going to get there,” said Clarkson.
“That wasn’t going to be any good for me, it wasn’t going to be any good for the players or the club.
“For a long period of time, you’re trying to fight to find a platform of which you can tell your story – to this day, we still haven’t been able to … there’s just no point in fighting this anymore.”
In a more light-hearted change of tune, Clarkson was asked tongue-in-cheek by Hawks sharpshooter Ben Dixon on the future prospects of young guns Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw.
With the belief that the captaincy balancing act between Jy Simpkin and Luke McDonald will be changed, Dixon asked the Kangaroos coach if Sheezel could join Simpkin at the helm in 2025.
“Not just yet, he’s got a lot of learning to do but he’s a ripper,” Clarkson responded.
And who will win a Brownlow first out of Sheezel and Wardlaw Dixon asked?
“Right at this point Sheezel, but Georgey won’t be far behind him hopefully.”