{"id":877366,"date":"2026-09-02T11:32:25","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T11:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/877366\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T11:32:25","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T11:32:25","slug":"inspiration-to-irritation-controlling-clarkson-left-roos-no-other-choice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/877366\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiration to irritation: Controlling Clarkson left Roos no other choice"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Melbourne didn\u2019t just lose all faith in Alastair Clarkson.<\/p>\n

This was a club which feared its coach was next year in danger of taking it backwards.<\/p>\n

By the end of Wednesday\u2019s extraordinary press conference, it was clear North Melbourne\u2019s powerbrokers thought Clarkson\u2019s magic had well and truly worn off.<\/a><\/p>\n

And if everything president Sonja Hood and football boss Todd Viney said was true, then it is some wonder he lasted this long.<\/p>\n

In recent months, Clarkson pushed a contract extension beyond 2027 with Roos\u2019 chiefs, but if that deal was signed the club genuinely feared a walkout.<\/p>\n

And that would have been catastrophic for a club which has been in the doldrums for a decade.<\/p>\n

That is why the club believed it had to act as harshly as it did on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Essentially, North could no longer trust the leader of its football team. Inspiration had become irritation. The crown too heavy. <\/p>\n

We have known for years the Roos had been a poor defensive team and had struggled to show enough improvement behind the ball.<\/p>\n

The Roos inability to beat teams above them had become a set of handcuffs.<\/p>\n

But what the Roos described on Wednesday was a coach who was not only not up to the modern demands of the game, he was someone who struggled to relinquish control.<\/p>\n

This was not just about performance and win-loss. This was about style. And coaching method.<\/p>\n

It was a bruising assessment.<\/p>\n

Viney blamed gaping holes in the game plan. A lack of clarity and cohesion.<\/p>\n

The confusion. Outdated methods.<\/p>\n

\"Confused<\/p>\n

And, reading between the lines about the lack of delegation, Clarkson was not in a mood to share the steering wheel as the screws tightened late in the season.<\/p>\n

These sorts of departures are normally attempted thank yous. A bit awkward, but gracious. <\/p>\n

But North dropped the hammer on Clarkson on Wednesday with a level of honesty and transparency we rarely see.<\/p>\n

If he has trepidation about returning to Hawthorn following the racism saga, it\u2019s hard to know when he will walk back into Arden St.<\/p>\n

For a club that has been down the bottom for so long, maybe the powerbrokers decided the situation needed some napalm.<\/p>\n

North said Clarkson was frustrated and disappointed by his exit and didn\u2019t see it coming. <\/p>\n

They could try to give him feedback about some of the issues, but how would he handle it? <\/p>\n

They weren\u2019t sure. In any case, if he wasn\u2019t filthy already, he will be now.<\/p>\n

Viney is Clarkson\u2019s best mate, after all. Or certainly, he was.<\/p>\n

It hit North fans hard Wednesday morning. But by 3pm they were left in absolutely no doubt the club was completely off its coach.<\/p>\n

And this wasn\u2019t just a board decision.<\/p>\n

The players, coaches and staff had all been consulted.<\/p>\n

And the feedback wasn\u2019t pretty.<\/p>\n

The players and his assistants had grown tired. <\/p>\n

They loved Clarkson\u2019s passion over the journey and he had saved them to a degree when he picked the Kangaroos over Essendon. <\/p>\n

But there was inconsistency.<\/p>\n

Things were up and down. Maybe even erratic.<\/p>\n

Clarkson\u2019s energy and commitment was his strength.<\/p>\n

But when it tipped over, it was also his weakness. <\/p>\n

The giveaway there was when Viney said the program had become \u201ctoo heavy\u201d.<\/p>\n

That means too harsh. Too full-on. And Hawthorn said the same thing.<\/p>\n

The Roos want a lighter environment. More enjoyment.<\/p>\n

The four-point loss to Collingwood in round 18 was poor because North was a talented team on the rise which should have eclipsed one which was trying to hang on.<\/p>\n

The difference was Collingwood had a defensive system. They also had Nick Daicos. But what wasn\u2019t missed was the Magpies\u2019 set up. The brand.<\/p>\n

The discipline and organisation. Especially at a venue which should have suited the Kangas.<\/p>\n

Then the final round loss to Sydney Swans against a club on its knees was a shocker. But the alarm bells were well and truly already ringing. <\/p>\n

History will show the die was already cast. They are a one-way football team despite Charlie Comben\u2019s heroics in the back end.<\/p>\n

North was crumbling at the time Clarko took over. It was a relic of a football club. And his arrival was an enormous shot in the arm.<\/p>\n

The long list of player re-signings in recent years was to his credit. They believed in him. But the faith had dried up.<\/p>\n

That continued on-field disappointment actually represented the biggest risk to the club for next season, rather than the decision to sack Clarkson this week.<\/p>\n

Indeed, it was clear the board was going to come under some threat if things blew up in the early part of next year.<\/p>\n

All eyes are on former player Mark Roberts, Stephen Head and Mark Dawson. There is a view North lacks football experience on the board. That is a watching brief.<\/p>\n

But for now they must appoint a new coach and this will be more of a Melbourne-style approach than an Essendon process.<\/p>\n

Club greats Adam Simpson and John Longmire hold obvious appeal, but the Roos want to find the best coach rather than just a North Melbourne person.<\/p>\n

The Bombers limited the pool. The Roos will look to expand it.<\/p>\n

It puts Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham right in the frame after seemingly coming second at Collingwood (to Craig McRae), Carlton and Essendon.<\/p>\n

The Roos want a connector. Someone who can coach a modern game style. A modern defensive grid.<\/p>\n

North thought they were getting that in the man who invented \u2018Clarko\u2019s cluster\u2019.<\/p>\n

But in the end, North agreed with the same conclusions Hawthorn drew in 2021 when the baton was passed to Sam Mitchell.<\/p>\n

It is a sad end, but aren\u2019t they all? Just ask Michael Voss. <\/p>\n

Considering all the prime talent, this is a club which must play finals next year.<\/p>\n

And that expectation will not be insignificant on a new coach.<\/p>\n

So the club needs to be careful if it goes down the path of an untried assistant, because the expectations will be high after a decade of doom.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of the most attractive jobs we\u2019ve seen over the past decade because the bulk of the heavy lifting has already been done.<\/p>\n

That is thanks to Clarkson, in part. This loaded list is ready to pop.<\/p>\n

Clarkson had done the heavy lifting and had been paid well for it.<\/p>\n

But he will be a shattered man on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Clarkson told the Herald Sun in March he had lost the first two years of his stint to the Hawthorn racism saga.<\/a> It nearly killed him, he said. The full toll on him was crippling, mentally and physically.<\/p>\n

Viney said those scars may have never fully healed. So he may have been doomed from the get-go. <\/p>\n

The wounds are unlikely to feel much better today. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Melbourne didn\u2019t just lose all faith in Alastair Clarkson. This was a club which feared its 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