North Melbourne expose awkward reality for Alastair Clarkson
Still winless since round two this year, the Kangaroos may have given club bosses some pause for thought regarding Alastair Clarkson.
Improved showings from North Melbourne in recent weeks have left some AFL commentators pondering whether or not the Kangaroos could be better off under interim coach Brett Ratten, after Alastair Clarkson stepped down from the role indefinitely back in May. The Kangaroos won their first two matches under Clarkson this season, but after a round five trouncing at the hands of the Brisbane Lions their form and competitiveness dropped off dramatically.
Clarkson stepped down days before North Melbourne's round 10 clash against Sydney, with Ratten stepping in after joining the club following his controversial departure from St Kilda. While the Roos are yet to register a win under Ratten, the likes of Kane Cornes and Matthew Lloyd told Channel 9 program Footy Classified that the marked improvement over the last three matches would potentially give higher-ups at Arden Street pause for thought.
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They lost by just three points against the Swans after Clarkson's announcement, and while they were well beaten by Collingwood a week later, North gave Essendon an almighty scare last Sunday, with only a late Bombers goal securing a six-point win. Cornes pointed out that since Clarkson's departure, the Kangaroos has significantly improved in a number of statistical measures.
The Kangaroos rank in the top five over the last three games in a variety of positive indicators - points from stoppages, goals per inside 50, and points from inside 50 stoppages. Cornes said the recent showings from the Kangaroos could present something of an 'awakening' to club officials.
“The question around Alastair Clarkson is — does his demeanour get the best out of the young players and is his game style in line with what the best teams are doing? They were very zone-orientated (and) we saw Hawthorn pick them apart in Round 3,” Cornes said.
“Why was the effort so poor? I thought his benchmark would’ve been getting genuine effort from this group...we saw them give up countless times.
“I think privately they’d be questioning it. Publicly they’ll be clearly backing in Alastair Clarkson and his credentials. But it’s been awakening for them.”
"I haven't been this excited about North Melbourne in my time watching them in years."
With Ratten getting a more competitive showing out of the Roos so far, would North be second-guessing whether Clarko is still the man for them?#9FootyClassified | @Channel9 pic.twitter.com/8o82WpMpfH— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) June 5, 2023
Lloyd was in agreement, saying that for the first time in a while he was interested in the prospects of the Kangaroos. He said that up until now there had been 'nothing to get excited about' regarding their form of future.
“You look at the numbers since Ratten has taken over and this is a different football side. I haven‘t been this excited about North Melbourne in my time watching them in year," he said. "There's been nothing to get excited about.
“This has been a drastic improvement since the shackles have gone off and Ratten’s taken over. They looked paralysed at times on the ground in terms of players just standing in positions and being walked through like cones, witches hats and being scored against.
"That hasn’t been the case in the last three weeks. They still don’t know how to win, Brett Ratten’s next challenge is to teach this team how to win.”
Alastair Clarkson's coaching future with Kangaroos undecided
Clarkson's intentions as far as his coaching future remain unknown, despite the AFL closing the investigation into allegations against himself, Chris Fagan and Jason Burt relating to their time at Hawthorn without any adverse findings. He has not yet given any indication as to whether he will return as coach this season.
Cornes said if North Melbourne continued to show improvement as they had in recent weeks, the decision to bring Clarkson back could very quickly become a very difficult one. “I don’t know if he’s going to come back, I’ve got no idea," he said.
“But I think the club would be questioning: ‘Is he the right coach for this group?’ on the back of what they’ve seen in the last three weeks.
“It’s a massive, massive call. That’s why privately they may be having second-thoughts on whether he is the right the coach for the group they’ve got right now.
“You would honestly naturally have those thoughts: ‘Is this the right coach to carry this group forward for the next four years on $1 million?’”
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