Alastair Clarkson in huge development as North Melbourne return locked in
It's been months since the Kangaroos tasted victory, but now they'll get their coach Alastair Clarkson back.
North Melbourne have announced that Alastair Clarkson will take back the reigns as head coach in a full-time capacity in Round 21. The four-time premiership coach returned to Arden St on Tuesday, two months after taking leave to deal with his mental health.
Clarkson suggested he might not return until next season, but the Kangaroos revealed on Wednesday that he'll be back in the hot seat in two weeks. The coach will sit out this Sunday's clash with St Kilda and the round 20 match against West Coast, before resuming ahead of the game against Melbourne on August 6.
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"We're so pleased that Alastair can return to the role of senior coach," North Melbourne chief executive Jennifer Watt said. "The time away was critical for Alastair to address his physical and mental health and it's obvious to everyone that he's hungry and ready to resume his place as our senior coach.
"Alastair, and indeed the whole club, has been incredibly grateful to Brett Ratten and the entire coaching group, for stepping up in his absence. We have been very purposeful with Alastair's return and integration back into the program to ensure a seamless transition for our playing group and to provide Alastair with the time to reacquaint himself with both the game and the program."
It comes as the Kangaroos are caught in the midst of a brutal 11-game losing streak, having not tasted victory since their round two triumph over Fremantle.
Clarkson has returned to the club since taking an indefinite leave of absence earlier in 2023 amid the furore surrounding the Hawthorn racism investigation, but interim coach Brett Ratten has been in charge. He did his first work with players in two months when he returned to Arden Street on Tuesday, some two months after taking leave to focus on his mental health, with the backing of the Kangaroos.
In his absence, signs of improvement have been sparse. While there were some early glimmers of progress under Ratten, who was sacked as head coach by St Kilda in 2022, none of it has translated into wins.
Their continued slide has prompted serious concern among AFL observers, however the task facing Clarkson was enormous in scope well before his arrival. The Kangaroos have won just 11 games out of 78 across the past four seasons.
Upon his return on Tuesday, Clarkson flagged that a full-time comeback was likely not on the cards until next year - adding another disrupted campaign to North's woeful recent history. He told reporters it was "probably more likely that it'll be later rather than sooner" that he resumes the reigns from Ratten.
"Today's my first real contact day with the players," he said. "It might be that I don't coach again this year."
North Melbourne's blushes have somewhat been spared in 2023 thanks to the equally dismal season being endured by the West Coast Eagles, who boast just one victory from 17 games thus far this season. The Kangaroos don't have West Coast's relatively recent success to reminisce on however, as fans begin to grow more impatient with the lack of evident progress.
Calls for North Melbourne to gain AFL assistance via draft
The dismal season has prompted calls for the Kangaroos to get assistance in the form of additional draft picks or salary cap relief from the AFL - something AFL 360 host Mark Robinson said had to happen. Clubs rarely benefit from such intervention from the league, however Robinson said it was clear the Roos needed a leg up in order to at least be competitive, let alone consider a top eight finish in the near future.
“I think we can’t have teams so miserable like North Melbourne is ... we can‘t have North Melbourne have another 20 weeks like this. It’s not good for anyone,” he said on AFL 360.
“You need draft picks into your list. You need to get draft picks in to get top-end talent.
“Something like that (middle of round one selection). It’s such a vexed issue, I haven’t got an answer, but I think 20 is too long and pick two or three is too short.
"You need top-end talent. Don’t get run of the mill players, you’ve gotta get gun players into this team.”
With AAP
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