Can Alistair Clarkson lead North to a premiership? Or has footy gone past him?

Jul 13, 2015
36,276
40,432
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Okay mate.

Stick your membership card in the microwave and be sure to give SEN a call :drunk::drunk::drunk::drunk:

I said when we dumped Clarko I wouldnt be a member while Jeff was there and Im stil unhappy at how Mitchell was brought in and still not a member.

Im not at all surprised at how we are going. He has taken a huge risk by rebuilding so savagely.
 
Pies must be pretty happy the Hawks execs and board dropped everything to sign up Mitchell to stop him going to the Pies.

Roos too I guess.
Shiels is a gun. Perfect for a rebuilding side like us. And probably you mob as well. Tho maybe he needed a change of scenery to buy into it properly.

But he definitely has bought in with us. His commitment is unreal and honestly I knew he was a good player but he is alot harder than I ever would have given him credit for. I guess you pick up more watching your own players cos you watch them carefully and regularly.
 
Oct 4, 2006
15,810
33,661
The hood
AFL Club
North Melbourne
Rubbish. Mitchell chose to throw everything away and start again from scratch. Which literally everyone other than a few rusted ons said went too far.

I mentioned late last year that I’d spoken to some afl players that live and breath footy, that it was common perception and opinion around afl circles that some clubs were looking at tassie19 coming in with the view load up on high end draft picks now to get ahead of the inevitable draft concessions they will receive.

Hawthorn seems to be an extreme example of that.

Personally I wouldn’t be worried about it if I supported the hawks. But having lived through 2021 and especially 2022, I know how heard it is to accept.
 
Oct 4, 2006
15,810
33,661
The hood
AFL Club
North Melbourne
So I’m not really familiar with clarko as a coach at hawthorn. Obviously he is completely and historically successful as a coach, has a firm personality, and has anger issues, but I haven’t followed his career particularly closely. Until now of course.

In his second coaching stint at north, he’s equaled our success last year in round 2 and from afar has physically, emotionally, tactically turned the club around. I’m not commenting on his long term success potential at north, but some interesting onfield changes he’s made are

1: turned our second best forward match winner into a midfielder getting career best disposal and clearance numbers.

2: got older players playing footy the defies even supporter expectations

3: played plenty of youth whilst still making young players have to earn games

4: seemingly revolutionising how a coach coaches on game day. He’s clearly walking the boundary like a soccer coach. It’s so jarring that it has drawn criticism from people that can only criticise. He also brought Brett ratten in to be match day coach in the box.

5: turned out forward match winner no 1 draft pick into a half back flanker, getting historically all time stats, despite never playing there.

6: cherry picked a retired senior player he used to coach to add to the group making a very strong contribution.

Pretty good start.m

Edit: all while dealing with a life changing set of allegations, uncertainty etc
 
Happy smiling Clarko on the bench seems to have vanished.

Clarko is happy when he wins, not happy when he loses?

It's a bold theory, but I acknowledge the courage you have to come forward with it
 
Apr 18, 2011
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40,331
AFL Club
Hawthorn
Other Teams
Six decades of domination
Stubbornly persisting with the likes of Howe, Tucker, Turner and Shiels. Don't say we didn't warn you North, while their pick 3 midfielder languishes in the 2s.

Don't say we didn't warn you North.

No semblance of a game plan yesterday. Same David Noble headless chook stuff.
 
Sep 25, 2007
13,995
14,223
AFL Club
West Coast
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Rich01

Brownlow Medallist
Oct 5, 2004
12,259
12,817
Melbourne
AFL Club
Richmond
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Richmond
Stubbornly persisting with the likes of Howe, Tucker, Turner and Shiels. Don't say we didn't warn you North, while their pick 3 midfielder languishes in the 2s.

Don't say we didn't warn you North.

No semblance of a game plan yesterday. Same David Noble headless chook stuff.
Yep, games they are giving to these guys shouldn’t be at the expense of young talent.

They have Wardlaw in the twos. Not sure who else is pushing for selection though.
 
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