North greats have had enough, but is Clarkson the man to turn it around?

Sydney Morning Herald

25-04-2025

'Everyone's out of words … it's about effort and intent, and who knows where that is at the moment,' McKernan told this masthead.
Defensive woes for the master of defence
Clarkson was a brilliant defensive coach through most of his time at Hawthorn. Dubbed 'Clarko's cluster' by Gerard Healy, the Hawks defended space and took a 15-man zone to a new level.
But the Kangaroos have been split apart defensively.
Clarkson has been asking his men to play a co-ordinated defensive system, but the Kangaroos have been unable to stick fat, prompting dual club premiership player David King – a former teammate of McKernan and Archer – to declare on SEN: 'All principles of defending are lost'.
That the Kangaroos were exposed in the midfield – typically a strength and where their best draft selections lay – by the Blues on Good Friday meant their defenders were under enormous pressure. However, their prime defenders, including Griffin Logue, Aidan Corr and Charlie Comben, haven't been getting the job done.
The statistics tell a terrible tale. They concede on average 117.3 points per game – a league high. They were also 18th last year, but this is where it becomes particularly head-shaking, for they conceded 110.9 points per game in 2024. In 2023, they ranked 17th, conceding a mere 100.8 points per game.
Elsewhere, it's also tough reading. The Kangaroos are in the bottom four for conceding points from turnover, points from clearance and points and goals per inside 50.
Viney said the Kangaroos were at a 'building blocks' stage, and 'layers' were still to be added.
However, former Western Bulldog Caleb Daniel has not been the rebounding defender the Kangaroos had hoped he'd be, and former Blue Zac Fisher is too loose to play in defence.
Logue, a former Docker, was supposed to be an anchor, but has been axed this week. So, too, Corr. Were they playing the selfless team defence required, or had they been in self-preservation mode? Youngsters Riley Hardeman and Will Dawson now have their chance, while Jackson Archer, a hard nut like his father, returns.
Skipper Jy Simpkin needs to find another gear.
Is Clarko still the man?
AFL great Nick Riewoldt fears the wagons are circling around Clarkson. Club insiders insist the coach is as fresh as ever, Viney describing criticism of the four-time premiership coach as disrespectful. The man himself responded by declaring he is as ruthless as ever, and is working desperately to lift the club from the 'doldrums'.
Clarkson turns 57 on Sunday, and has more than two years remaining on his five-year contract. His signature was hailed as a significant turning point for the club, but when it comes to wins and losses that hasn't been the case.
'Put on a tape of Glenn Archer, watch his desperation, hatred of being beaten, and ask: 'Am I competing like that?''
North Melbourne premiership great Corey McKernan
Luke Hodge, a three-time premiership skipper in his time at Hawthorn, has been Clarkson's staunchest defender, recalling the patience that was required with the Hawks when Clarkson began there in 2005. By the end of 2008, a flag was delivered.
Clarkson has brought stability internally to North, and is a well-respected public face for the club, but hopes of a finals bid, let alone a premiership dream, are as distant as ever.
King has questioned whether Clarkson's seven-figure wage has filled a major chunk of the $7.675 million soft cap. But the Kangaroos insist they have a strong assistant coaching group.
There is also public debate whether Clarkson's long rap sheet has taken the sting from his tail. This includes the $20,000 fine and two-game ban, suspended until the end of the season, for his inappropriate outburst towards St Kilda players Jimmy Webster and Dougal Howard last season.
Riewoldt wants Clarkson to get angry.
'They are good players, but they are good players playing like they fear nothing from the senior coach. They don't fear repercussions from the senior coach for ordinary efforts, particularly defensively,' Riewoldt said on Seven.
'The wagons are circling, the noise is getting louder. If you are going to go down, Clarko, go down swinging.'
Former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas took to social media to question whether 'the ruthless, demanding, hard edge of Clarko' had diminished.
But Clarkson made it clear he still has what it takes to drag the club up.
'I am sure our players would tell you, if they wanted to reveal it to the outside football world, that I am not all kisses and cuddles. I think everyone has known that about me for as long as I have been involved in AFL footy. But I also know when the right time is to wrap an arm around a guy and try and give him some support,' Clarkson said.
He also pointed to the rise Melbourne and Brisbane have had over the past decade to show how the wheel can turn.
Viney insists Clarkson is back to his best after stepping away from North Melbourne in 2023 due to the effect of the Hawthorn racism investigation on his mental and physical health.
'He's had enormous distractions, unwarranted criticism, judged unfairly – it's taken an enormous toll on him over those two years,' Viney, who also worked alongside Clarkson at Hawthorn, told SEN.
'Eventually, we're into this third year, he's two years and six games in, and he's a rejuvenated person, back to his old self, a lot of energy, seeing the game as well as he's ever seen it.'
No more Mr Nice Guy
Former Kangaroos are hopping mad. Not only has King been vocal in his scathing assessments for weeks, former forward Troy Makepeace has made his feelings clear on social media, posting last Friday there was too much club focus on being 'nice'.
'One of my coaches said, 'Nice guys finish last'. AFL is the elite. [There's] no room for being nice, you need to be brutal, you need to want it more. Get angry … break something … no more bullshit, that ship has sailed … stand for something … just do something …' Makepeace said.
Makepeace – as Clarkson has done – later called for unity, urging the club to return to its 'Shinboner way'.
But unity will only go so far if the results don't come.
In what should have been a season where the Kangaroos showed marked signs of a rebirth, they again find themselves having to explain what's gone wrong.