KEEPING FAITH
Kennett says Clarkson still man for job
HAWTHORN president Jeff Kennett has declared Alastair Clarkson “categorically” the man to lead the Hawks out of their slump.
And despite what the former state premier described as one of the worst periods of football performance he had seen in recent memory, “you never succeed in life at anything by eating your own”.
The president offered the rousing support a day after the Hawks were resoundingly beaten by Melbourne — the team’s third-straight loss.
Hawthorn sits 14th on the ladder but Kennett is adamant that Clarkson — who is contracted until the end of 2022 — will be the one to lead the club forward.
“The last three weeks have delivered the most disappointing displays by our boys that I have witnessed in years,” he wrote in a letter to members.
“We have been comprehensively outplayed.
“The desire and skills shown by the three teams we have recently played in GWS, Collingwood, and Melbourne, left us floundering.
“Can I remind you no other team has achieved what we have at Hawthorn over the last 12 years — four premierships.
“Just as it is true that you cannot win premierships every year, it is equally true that you cannot win every game you play. That said, we do expect our team to leave the field after each contest knowing they have given their best and done us proud, win or lose.”
Kennett, who on Saturday said Clarkson’s future would be addressed by both parties at the end of his contract, said “experts” had “come out from their burrows with all the solutions and calling into question whether our coach Alastair Clarkson is the man to turn our performances around”.
“Let me say categorically, he is,” he wrote.
“Both Alastair and I like nothing more than a challenge and enjoy nothing more than proving those with opinions, but no responsibility, wrong.
“Just about every other club would give their right arm to have Alastair coach their team, but he is not going anywhere.”
He said that “eating your own … is simply not the Hawthorn way”.
Earlier, four-time premiership player Jordan Lewis said that he believed the team was suffering from a lack of leadership in the wake of former skipper Jarryd Roughead’s retirement.
“I think once Roughy stepped out of that position and out of the side, there was probably a void in leadership to be honest,” Lewis said on SEN.
“We had a good period of five to 10 years where I think anyone in our leadership group could have potentially become captain.
“Ben Stratton has been a great influence around the playing group.
“But he’s never been that star player that you look to when your side isn’t going that well.
“I see James Sicily as probably the next captain, but he’s just a little bit immature and young to be in that position at the moment.
“For me, there’s a gap in the leadership at the moment that’s been so strong in the past.”