Latest news with #Kangaroos
Herald Sun
11 hours ago
- Sport
- Herald Sun
AFL 2025: Alastair Clarkson says he can steer Roos' through ‘growing pains'
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News. North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson insists he is up for the challenge of leading the Kangaroos through their 'growing pains'. The Kangaroos suffered their worst loss for the season to Geelong last Saturday, succumbing to the Cats by 101 points, and are facing a sixth straight bottom-two finish. Despite collecting more wins than last year, the heat has risen on Clarkson and whether he is developing the raft of first-round picks to compete at AFL level. Clarkson referenced young defender Wil Dawson and how the Roos would persist with him in important roles, like the one he had on Jeremy Cameron for parts last week. The four-time premiership coach said 'it's all terrific learning' for players of Dawson's experience as they pushed through 'growing pains'. 'Three or four weeks ago when (Dawson) played against (Sam) Darcy, it was a real step forward, 'Geez, he can compete with Sam Darcy, that's a good effort',' he said. Wil Dawson competes with Sam Darcy. Picture: Mark Stewart 'Then he has a game against Geelong last week and it's Cameron and (Shannon) Neale and it's like, 'Oh wow, there's 15 goals between them' … it's all terrific learning. 'Some players need that exposure and it's tough to sit through. We don't want to sit through it for too long … it's just some of the growing pains unfortunately. 'Some of the more senior, experienced sides in the competition have already been through those growing pains, we're going through them now.' Clarkson said the question marks on whether he'd developed the young Roos at all were 'all part' of being a senior coach. He doesn't know when it can turn for North Melbourne but is confident it can. 'It's why we do what we do, we love the game and part of the challenge is overcoming the adversity,' he said. North Melbourne players leave Marvel Stadium after losing by 101 points last weekend. Picture: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images 'It's a tough job though with any list in the competition and we just keep batting away at it. 'I had some tough times when I was at Hawthorn, 2014, no one would look at it and say, '2014 was a terrific year for Hawthorn, they won the premiership that year'. 'But gee we confronted some adversity. I was out for six weeks with a serious illness, some of our more senior players were missing 10, 12, 14 weeks of footy and it was a really, really tough year. 'It was unbelievably rewarding that even despite the adversity we were able to win – but that's what we're searching for. 'We know this game is tough, whether you're a side that's good and challenging at the top end, it's still really, really tough. 'Having been in the game a long period of time, as tough as it is and it seems like, 'Well gee we're being overly patient'. All of a sudden it will turn and the confidence of the group will rise. 'When that's going to happen, I don't know, but sometimes it can happen really quickly.' Alastair Clarkson has confidence he can turn North Melbourne around. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images Clarkson vows he is still up for the challenge of rebuilding North Melbourne and again uses his time at Hawthorn as proof. 'I love the challenge of it, it's a significant challenge, but I don't see it any different to the challenge when I first arrived at Hawthorn,' he said. 'No senior coach, political turmoil in the footy club, less than 25,000 members and in a very, very quick space of time that club was able to turn itself around. 'I am confident it can be done here as well and I'm enjoying the challenge of it as well.' Originally published as AFL 2025: North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson confident he can steer through Roos' 'growing pains'
The Australian
20 hours ago
- Sport
- The Australian
AFL 2025: Alastair Clarkson says he can steer Roos' through ‘growing pains'
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson insists he is up for the challenge of leading the Kangaroos through their 'growing pains'. The Kangaroos suffered their worst loss for the season to Geelong last Saturday, succumbing to the Cats by 101 points, and are facing a sixth straight bottom-two finish. Despite collecting more wins than last year, the heat has risen on Clarkson and whether he is developing the raft of first-round picks to compete at AFL level. Clarkson referenced young defender Wil Dawson and how the Roos would persist with him in important roles, like the one he had on Jeremy Cameron for parts last week. The four-time premiership coach said 'it's all terrific learning' for players of Dawson's experience as they pushed through 'growing pains'. 'Three or four weeks ago when (Dawson) played against (Sam) Darcy, it was a real step forward, 'Geez, he can compete with Sam Darcy, that's a good effort',' he said. 'Then he has a game against Geelong last week and it's Cameron and (Shannon) Neale and it's like, 'Oh wow, there's 15 goals between them' … it's all terrific learning. 'Some players need that exposure and it's tough to sit through. We don't want to sit through it for too long … it's just some of the growing pains unfortunately. 'Some of the more senior, experienced sides in the competition have already been through those growing pains, we're going through them now.' Clarkson said the question marks on whether he'd developed the young Roos at all were 'all part' of being a senior coach. He doesn't know when it can turn for North Melbourne but is confident it can. 'It's why we do what we do, we love the game and part of the challenge is overcoming the adversity,' he said. 'It's a tough job though with any list in the competition and we just keep batting away at it. 'I had some tough times when I was at Hawthorn, 2014, no one would look at it and say, '2014 was a terrific year for Hawthorn, they won the premiership that year'. 'But gee we confronted some adversity. I was out for six weeks with a serious illness, some of our more senior players were missing 10, 12, 14 weeks of footy and it was a really, really tough year. 'It was unbelievably rewarding that even despite the adversity we were able to win – but that's what we're searching for. 'We know this game is tough, whether you're a side that's good and challenging at the top end, it's still really, really tough. 'Having been in the game a long period of time, as tough as it is and it seems like, 'Well gee we're being overly patient'. All of a sudden it will turn and the confidence of the group will rise. 'When that's going to happen, I don't know, but sometimes it can happen really quickly.' Clarkson vows he is still up for the challenge of rebuilding North Melbourne and again uses his time at Hawthorn as proof. 'I love the challenge of it, it's a significant challenge, but I don't see it any different to the challenge when I first arrived at Hawthorn,' he said. 'No senior coach, political turmoil in the footy club, less than 25,000 members and in a very, very quick space of time that club was able to turn itself around. 'I am confident it can be done here as well and I'm enjoying the challenge of it as well.' NewsWire Millions of Australians will have thousands of dollars slashed from their student debt after parliament passed new laws on Thursday. Here's what you'll get – and when. NewsWire Top rugby league agents who represent the game's biggest stars could be banned for up to nine months following a late-night pub confrontation.
7NEWS
20 hours ago
- Sport
- 7NEWS
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson responds as question about passion keeps surfacing
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has scoffed at the suggestion he has lost his passion as the struggling Kangaroos battle to the end of the AFL season. Now in his third season at Arden Street, Clarkson has a 10-1-44 record as coach, with a winning percentage of just 19.09. The Kangaroos have lost five games on the bounce, including a 101-point hammering from Geelong. Channel 7 expert Kane Cornes has repeatedly wondered if Clarkson has lost his passion, pulling apart a recent media conference where he looked 'defeated'. 'I sat through his media conference twice after the game and maybe I'm harsh on coaches that face the media straight after the game, but he is as uninspiring as I've seen him,' Cornes said on The Agenda Setters. 'And he looks as though he's lost the passion. 'So in eight minutes and one second, he said the word 'um' 70 times. He said it 70 times. I counted them. And it's just the same monotonous (stuff).' But Clarkson, a four-time premiership-winning coach at Hawthorn, brushed aside queries over his passion as he drew parallels between his time at North and his early days at the Hawks. 'I wouldn't have come back if I didn't want to do this job,' Clarkson said on Thursday. 'I love the challenge of it. It's a significant challenge, but I don't see it as any different to the challenge I had when I first arrived at Hawthorn: no senior coach, no CEO, political turmoil within the footy club, less than 25,000 members. 'In a very, very quick space of time that club was able to turn itself around. 'And I'm confident it can be done here as well, and I'm enjoying the challenge of it. It's not easy — as they always say, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.' Clarkson was adamant the Kangaroos' troubles weren't his toughest, surprisingly pointing to the 2014 premiership-winning year at Hawthorn. 'Geez, we confronted some adversity. I was out for six weeks with a serious illness. Some of our more senior players were missing 10, 12, 14 weeks of footy, and it was a really, really tough year,' he said. 'Unbelievably rewarding that we ended up being able to, despite the adversity, win - but that's what we're searching for. 'We know this game's tough. Whether you're a side that's really, really good and challenging at the top end, it is still really, really tough.' It gave Clarkson the belief that things could still turn at North. 'As tough as it is, and it seems like, 'well, gee, we're being overly patient', all of a sudden it will turn and the confidence of the group will rise,' he said. 'And when that's going to happen I don't know, but sometimes it can happen really, really quickly.' Clarkson conceded that could mean another pre-season, but stressed the Kangaroos still had 'an enormous amount to gain' from their last four games. First up is St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, including attempting to shut down in-form Saints gun Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera North will name spearhead Nick Larkey (knee) to play, but if he is a late withdrawal key defender Charlie Comben will likely swing forward again. George Wardlaw could return at AFL level after gaining match conditioning via the VFL.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Kevin Walters handed boost as potential Kangaroos defector 'hasn't made a decision'
New Kangaroos coach Kevin Walters said he only wants to take players to England who want to represent the green and gold as Tino Fa'asuamaleaui admits he hasn't come to a decision over a potential switch. Walters knew one of his first roles as the national coach was to address reports trio Hamiso Tabui-Fidow, Payne Haas and Fa'asuamaleaui are all thinking of playing for Samoa at the end of the season. The trio have all played for Australia at some point, but are considering playing for Samoa moving forward. While this has opened up a debate around State of Origin eligibility, the trio are yet to make any official call with the NRL season still going. Although Fa'asuamaleaui has broken his silence around the situation and claimed he will make his decision after the season's end. But it appears Walters will have time to meet with the Queensland forward who hasn't made up his mind. "For now I haven't made a decision. I'm hoping I'm in the boat where I have to make a decision," Fa'asuamaleaui said. "Obviously being in rehab probably rules that out at the moment. I just want to get my knee right, play good football and hopefully I get to that point at the end of the year where I get to select." Fa'asuamaleaui said he has been tossing up the decision after a visit back to Samoa to see his family. "I am massively connected to my Samoan culture. Me and Iszac were fortunate enough to go back at the end of last year after 10 years," he said. "To be back there with my family and see all the kids I grew up with who now have kids like me, it brought a real connection to my culture. I have always loved being Samoan and I am still on that journey of learning my culture more and understanding it." Fa'asuamaleaui played six games for Australia across 2022 and 2023, but has been injured in recent years having struggled to back-up for the green and gold at the end of the season. And while Fa'asuamaleaui is unsure of who he will play for, Walters claimed he isn't going to ask any of them to remain in the green and gold if they don't want to represent the jersey. RELATED: Hughes re-signs as Munster twist could prevent another star leaving Stunning development for Cleary brothers as Luai under heavy fire Kevin Walters issues demand to Aussie stars Speaking on NRL 360, Walters claimed he respects the decision of the players wanting to make a switch and won't stand in their way. The former Australian representative said he wants to restore the pride in the jersey and only wants players who want to play for Australia in the 22-man squad to tour England. 'I have had some conversations and picked up the phone,' Walters said on Monday. 'There will be some meetings in the next couple of weeks with those guys. I won't be trying to convince them to play for the Kangaroos. "I will sit down with these guys and outline my plan on where we are going to take the jersey and then get an understanding of their feelings towards that and how they feel about playing for the Kangaroos. If they want to continue and play for our jersey that is great I love that and if they don't I totally respect that.' Tabuai-Fidow played for Samoa in the 2022 World Cup, but was hampered with injury and only featured in one game. He has represented Australia six times since then having won the Pacific Championship last year in a stacked side. Haas has represented Australia four times. The Kangaroos will play a three-match Ashes series for the first time since 2003, with the first Test against England getting underway at London's Wembley Stadium on October 25. Walters will select a 22-man squad to tour England after the NRL season.
News.com.au
4 days ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Alastair Clarkson accused of failing to improve North Melbourne after shellacking by Geelong
North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson stands accused of failing to advance the Kangaroos in any measurable way after suffering the biggest loss of the 2025 season and having recorded just 10 wins across his three seasons in charge. Two-time Kangaroos premiership player David King said he was 'confused' watching his old side, which was demolished by 101 points by Geelong, asking questions about what four-time premiership winning mentor Clarkson was 'building'. In his post-match appraisal of the loss, Clarkson said he wouldn't get caught up in the 'hysteria around results' and 'we know where we are as a footy club'. King, however, said it was merely more lip service and he was genuinely worried about where the Kangaroos were heading, with Clarkson three years into a five-year contract. 'You have to be worried don't you?' he said on Monday. 'Nothing has changed defensively, and when nothing changed what are you building? 'Clarko for five years was perfect, but I thought there would be a more significant improvement in the third year.' King wasn't calling for change but questioned whether Clarkson was really aware of the problems his team faced. 'In my own heart of hearts, this club desperately need stability,' King told SEN. 'It's been through turmoil. It's spat out coach after coach for six or seven years. 'But we're still here. It's just so confusing trying to watch them and work out what they're doing. 'From a personal point of view I always wonder if the coach is telling the absolute truth or is it just words to appease a 10-minute press conference. Or is this what he really feels? 'I feel like sometimes they're words; I'm not going at Alastair, I'm not. It's just so confusing.' The Kangaroos brought in premiership-winning players Caleb Daniel and Luke Parker to help the young list, but King said Daniel in particular was not delivering. 'I didn't expect to be here at this point. There is so much work to do. I get confused with how they reward Caleb Daniel with selection – it baffles me,' he said. 'I haven't seen him do one thing that blows my mind. Defensively, he causes confusion for the rest of them. 'I would love them to honestly talk to us about it. It has not improved defensively. 'There's massive questions. I don't want to hear about what other clubs have done; I want to see North do it.'
