Roos give reasons for Clarkson’s sacking as payout revealed; Longmire and Simpson speak about the role

Damning player feedback of rambling and muddied messages, as well as an inconsistent game plan with holes in it, were critical in North Melbourne’s decision to sack coach Alastair Clarkson with a year to run on his contract.

The club will not have to pay out all of the $1.2 million Clarkson is reported to have been contracted for next year, with the termination clause in his deal limiting the payout to six months or roughly $600,000.

North Melbourne president Sonja Hood and football manager Todd Viney fronted the media on Wednesday afternoon after the news of Clarkson’s sacking broke when players and staff were called into the club for an emergency meeting, weeks after the end of their season.

For nearly 20 minutes, Hood and Viney gave a blunt assessment of Clarkson’s four-season tenure at North Melbourne, during which the team won just 20 games – three in each of the first two years, five in his third year and nine this year.

Their comments echoed Hood’s letter to North Melbourne members sent earlier in the afternoon, where she said it had become clear that “Alastair no longer has the belief from enough people at the club that he is the right coach to take this group forward”.

His time at North Melbourne began for the 2023 season, after his departure from Hawthorn in 2021 where he had won four premierships as coach – 2008, and from 2013 to 2015. But he had not won a final at the Hawks following the 2015 premiership (in both 2016 and 2018 the club went out in straight sets).

Clarkson was told of the club’s decision on Tuesday after a post-season consultation period during which North bosses sought the views of the football department and players.

“Once we knew that, it felt disrespectful to him to have him coach into 2027, knowing we would not extend him at the end of that,” Hood wrote.

Hood confirmed the board’s decision to end Clarkson’s contract a year early was unanimous.

Viney, who joined the club with Clarkson, acknowledged North had made progress under the coach, but said the team failed to improve in certain areas.

A long-time friend and ally of Clarkson, who came to the club with the coach, Viney said the feedback from players was that the more pressure Clarkson felt, the harder he worked and the more confused the messaging became.

“I think if there was one thing that ‘Clarko’ did was he tried too hard in trying to fix that, and then therefore what happens is we get into more meetings, more information, and the players at the end of the day become a little bit confused, and we don’t get the cohesion that we need to win more games,” Viney said.

“There’s still parts of our game plan that we haven’t been able to improve in the four years, and that’s some stuff that we need to get right when we talk to the next coach to bring us in line with where the modern game is right at the moment.

Hood echoed that message and described the playing group as sad about Clarkson’s departure, but excited for the future.

Viney will remain at the club and is expected to be part of the coach search process.

“Leadership isn’t easy. It’s very easy to be a leader when things go well, but when the times are tough and you have to make strong decisions, it is difficult,” he said.

“To add layers to that, with the friendship that I’ve had with Alastair for a long period of time, with the family connection, it’s tremendously stressful and hard.”

Hood said the club would move quickly on a process to find their new coach, but emphasised multiple times that there was no pre-conceived idea about specific candidates. She said, though, that the Roos needed a coach whose strategies were in line with “the modern game”.

“We will let the market put up the best coach for this club,” Hood said.

External discussion of Clarkson’s position and future has included the fact that Adam Simpson and John Longmire – both Kangaroos playing greats and friends of Clarkson who went on to coach AFL premierships at other clubs – are not presently employed as senior coaches.

In their regular appearance on AFL 360, both were asked if they were interested in the now-vacant Roos role. Neither offered an outright denial.

“My first, instant reaction would be [that] it’s just happened today,” Longmire said of Clarkson’s sacking.

“Let’s let the dust settle.”

Longmire then threw directly to Simpson, who quipped, “That’s the first handball you’ve given in 30 years!”

Simpson then said, “‘Horse’ and I both have a relationship with Alastair, and I can’t take my headspace out of him and what he’s going through.

“It’s just a bit early to talk about what we perceive as an opportunity, versus a mate who’s lost his job.

“I think the Essendon [coaching] situation was pretty clear to me – that wasn’t part of my future.

“The Carlton one I had a think about, and this one is not something I’ve thought too deep about, but I don’t want to give any type of reaction right now because I just don’t know.”

Earlier, Longmire described Clarkson as “one of the fiercest competitors I’ve ever met”, while Simpson, who was an assistant to Clarkson at Hawthorn, said, “I stole everything he had and went to West Coast [for the 2018 premiership era]”.

Simpson later added, “I’m not sure how many people wanted that job at North four years ago… I bet you there’s a few people going for it now”.

Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham is a potential candidate who impressed Carlton in their selection process but lost out to interim coach Josh Fraser. Other potential targets could include Corey Enright.

Clarkson was not at the club press conference on Wednesday, but shared a statement through his manager on social media.

“We set out to stabilise the club and lay the foundations for a return to playing deep in September,” he said.

“The challenge was a difficult one that I embraced with my whole being.

“My family and I have been privileged to be involved in AFL football for over 40 years, but it is now time for a new chapter.”

Viney confirmed Clarkson was frustrated and disappointed by the decision and said the coach “didn’t see it coming”.

Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge, who also worked under Clarkson at Hawthorn, was shocked when he was told of Clarkson’s fate midway through his press conference on Wednesday.

The Dogs coach said the constant scrutiny on senior coaches right from the start of their tenure was “disconcerting”, even if he accepted it came with the territory.

“Clarko’s been an amazing coach, [a] amazing custodian of the game, and obviously really outspoken, and someone who’s pushed his own opinions to make the game better,” Beveridge said.

“What I’m concerned about is the next generation of senior coaches. Do they actually really want to put them in the situation where, from the start of their tenure, their vocational sustainability is speculated upon? It’s not a nice place to live.”

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