CLARKSON’S EARLY EXIT AT HAWKS
Hawthorn’s succession plan for its 2022 coaches has fallen to pieces
ALASTAIR Clarkson will immediately roar into contention for Collingwood’s vacant coaching role – and a potential job at Carlton – after the bombshell news he would not coach the Hawks next year.
The greatest coach of the modern era is expected to leave Hawthorn this year instead of coaching out his contract to the end of 2022.
But there is still confusion about whether Clarkson will quit immediately or coach the club until the end of this season.
Clarkson had admitted the players were confused and uncertain about the club’s recently announced succession plan, which had required a series of meetings between him and Sam Mitchell to sort out their 2022 responsibilities.
But senior Hawthorn players, including captain Ben McEvoy, reportedly approached the club’s hierarchy concerned about how 2022 would play out.
It is understood the Hawthorn board and Clarkson made a decision to part ways on Thursday night. He will be paid out by Hawthorn. Collingwood’s football boss Graham Wright has already stated Clarkson is not a contender for the Pies role given he was, until Friday, set to honour his contract.
But he would immediately roar to the top of the list of contenders if he chose to throw his hat into the ring.
Similarly Carlton would have huge interest in Clarkson despite the club’s senior coach David Teague having a year to run on his contract.
In surreal scenes at Hawthorn on Friday, Clarkson’s scheduled 10.30am press conference was postponed as the club worked out its next move.
Clarkson was on the training track for the bulk of the club’s training session on Friday, as was the man who will replace him, Sam Mitchell.
Clarkson diverted from his normal procedure of coming down the stairs past the John Kennedy statue, instead emerging from the dugout at ground level.
He left the ground via the dugout and dodged around questions about his early exit from the club.
Skipper McEvoy would not comment when asked if he knew of the decision.
It’s understood some of the players were stunned when told of Clarkson’s
exit. Hawthorn had bunkered down, with president Jeff Kennett, CEO Justin Reeves and the club’s media department all failing to return calls.
Clarkson’s manager James Henderson and the coach himself had continually referenced Clarkson’s determination to see out his contract.
Henderson has been contacted for comment.
Clarkson last Friday used the death of his brother and the dark times that followed that tragedy to reinforce his loyalty to the club.
He said his wife Caryn had married him when he was emerging from those tough times and shown loyalty to him, with Clarkson determined to show the same loyalty to the Hawks next year.
But despite confusion among the players about how the handover would run next year, Clarkson has a group of senior players who are fiercely loyal to him.
Mitchell will still need to win over those players as he charts a course forward for Hawthorn, which could prove problematic as the Hawks embark upon a full rebuild.
The decision will also put immense pressure on Kennett to shepherd through the rebuild.
Clarkson had fallen out with Reeves for some time and abused him in the minutes before the club announced the succession plan given his lack of loyalty to Clarkson.
As soon as the club announced that instead of a true succession plan, they had simply decided to hold Clarkson to his 2022 contract while elevating Mitchell, it seemed doomed to fail.
But given the club and Clarkson’s statements about staying the course, it had been believed he would coach on until this week’s sensational developments.
Clarkson’s statement last week as part of a 14-minute speech to start his weekly press conference made clear he wanted to honour his contract.
“It’s in sickness or in health for me,” he said.
“I’m going to continue on and do this role until the end of next year ... we understood there was going to be speculation, ‘will Clarkson move and what does it mean’, I laugh at in one
way because if they’re saying that then they don’t really know me well, that’s what I’m trying to portray today.
“I’ll see through my commitment, I’ve always been that way. Whether it’s with a marriage or whether it’s in business or your work.
“Once you make a commitment to someone then you follow through to the end and my commitment to Sam Mitchell is through to the end of next year. That commitment is to Sam, that commitment is to Lyndall, his wife and his three children.”
Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton meanwhile said Clarkson had
passed his prime as senior coach when the club decided to appoint Mitchell as his successor.
Brereton said while Clarkson was still one of the best coaches in the game, he was adamant that Clarkson was no longer at the peak of his powers.
“There are aspects of his coaching that I can view right now, which I don’t think he is completely and utterly at the top of his coaching game,” Brereton said.
“He is still probably close to the best coach … but there are aspects of his game style of coaching that I don’t think are as cutting edge any more.”