Jeff Kennett’s warning to rival clubs: Alastair Clarkson off limits, he’s staying at Hawthorn

Hawks president Jeff Kennett has opened up about rival clubs trying to poach Alastair Clarkson, saying the master coach is eager to ‘prove a point’ at Hawthorn.

Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett says coach Alastair Clarkson is going nowhere.

Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett says four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson is more hungry for success than he has ever seen him as he warned rival clubs the most successful coach of the modern era isn’t going anywhere.

Clarkson will coach the Hawks for a 17th AFL season next year, with at least two more years to run on his current deal.

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Alastair Clarkson during the Hawks’ premiership halcyon days — he’s keen to lead them back to the top of the competition. Picture: AAP

But Kennett said clubs interested in trying to prise Clarkson away from Hawthorn in the coming years shouldn’t waste their time.

“I have always said Clarko isn’t going anywhere … while a lot of people have written otherwise,” Kennett told the Sunday Herald Sun.

There had been speculation North Melbourne informally sounded out Clarkson — who once played with the Kangaroos — when the club was looking for a replacement for Rhyce Shaw.

Several other clubs have also made unsuccessful inquiries in recent seasons.

Kennett said Clarkson is confident the Hawks can rebound swiftly from their 15th place finish in 2020, with only five wins coming for the season.

“I have spent a lot of time since the end of the season talking to Clarko and I can tell you he is focused,” he said.

Kennett and Clarko after a win at their second home in Tassie.

“He has a lot that he wants to prove. We are very excited about the future, but we are also very relaxed about our relationships with our senior people at the club.

“We have got a lot of experience throughout the club. We also have a lot of youth in our playing group.”

Asked if Clarkson’s drive for a fifth premiership was as strong as ever, Kennett said: “There is no doubt about that … there are a lot of people behind him driving him as much as he will be driving us.”

The president said the $100m state-of-the-art training, administrative and community development at Dingley – which is “shovel ready” and will start construction early next year – would aid the Hawks from a football and financial point of view.

“We’ve got Dingley, we’ve got our commercial operations, we’ve got Tasmania, we have our football department in good shape, the governance is good, the board is a collegiate board, and we are one of the five or six unassisted clubs because of all that,” Kennett said.

An artist’s impression of the Hawks’ new development at Dingley.

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He said the Kennedy Community Centre at Dingley will also prove a huge benefit for the community in the south east of Melbourne.

“The thing to bear in mind is that we are the only club that owns its own site,” Kennett said. “Every other football club is either on Crown land or council land.”

“It is terribly important in terms of our long-term financial security that we own our own site. We will be sharing that site with the community as well.

“We are in the fastest growing part of the metropolitan area of Melbourne. This site is now ready to go.”

Originally published as Jeff Kennett’s warning to rival clubs: Alastair Clarkson off limits, he’s staying at Hawthorn