Where does your AFL club sit: Alastair Clarkson’s huge task to turn two-win Roos into competitive outfit
Alastair Clarkson and a host of new recruits and draft pick have arrived at North Melbourne. So with those in the equation, how much improvement can we expect in 2023? Find out here.
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After back-to-back wooden spoons, North Melbourne is hoping Alastair Clarkson can lead the club back up the ladder.
It will be intriguing to see how the long-time Hawthorn coach will go with a rebuilding team, albeit one that has added experienced players such as Griffin Logue, Darcy Tucker and Liam Shiels to help fast-track the youngsters’ development. Bridging the gap between the side’s best and worst football will be one of Clarkson’s first tasks.
Stay tuned for more AFL deep dives to come.
NORTH MELBOURNE
Coach: Alastair Clarkson
Captain: TBC
What happened in 2022?
Where do we start.
The Kangaroos won just twice, lost two games by more than 100 points and finished bottom for the second consecutive season.
Senior coach David Noble was sacked in July.
Key figures in the club’s recruiting team quit a week before the mid-season draft.
Last year’s No. 1 pick Jason Horne-Francis sought – and was granted – a homecoming trade to South Australia to join Port Adelaide after a rollercoaster campaign.
As part of that deal, the Roos swapped out their 2022 top selection.
Chief executive Ben Amarfio resigned in September.
Coaching great Alastair Clarkson agreed to take on the senior role, only to stand aside not long after to co-operate with an AFL investigation into his role in the alleged mistreatment of First Nations players and their families during their time at Hawthorn.
Although that probe will not be finalised until next year, Clarkso, who denies the allegations, has returned to the fold, ensuring some degree of stability at a club desperately needing it.
The arrival of Fremantle duo Griffin Logue and Darcy Tucker during the trade period, as well as top-five draft picks Harry Sheezel and George Wardlaw, offer further hope of a fresh start for the club in 2023.
Where do they finish in 2023?
Put North Melbourne down to improve on 2022’s two-win tally next year.
Surely, they can with four-time premiership coach Clarkson on board and a squad that has a more depth.
But how many ladder spots will the Kangaroos climb?
Finishing 15th seems plausible, when you consider Hawthorn has turned its attention to youth, fellow two-win outfit West Coast is also rejuvenating its list, GWS is in the frame and you factor in a sprinkling of Clarkson magic.
Then again, the Hawks were six wins better than the Kangaroos in 2022, the Eagles had a depleted squad early in the campaign and the Giants were four wins clear of North, so Clarkson might be up against it to get any higher than the bottom two.
Getting more games from Ben McKay (15 last season), Tarryn Thomas (10) and Ben Cunnington (two) will be a big help.
Ex-Hawks Liam Shiels and Daniel Howe add much-needed experience and depth.
Jumping from two to six wins would be a significant improvement.
Five might be more realistic.
Biggest improver in 2022
Bailey Scott finished third in the Kangaroos’ best-and-fairest after announcing himself as a quality young player to watch in coming seasons.
The 22-year-old featured in all bar one match, averaging 18.2 disposals (up from 12.8 in 2021) playing on a wing or at half back.
Scott – the son of North Melbourne premiership player Robert Scott – used his speed and neat kicking to great effect.
Expect him to take another step this season.
In September, he re-signed with the Kangaroos until the end of 2024.
X-factor
Thomas loomed as a potential breakout candidate heading into 2022, on the back of a strong finish to the previous campaign, but he never really got going.
He missed 12 games, having battled injuries and off-field issues, and when did play, he was rarely at his best.
His averages dropped markedly in disposals (18.2 in 2021 to 12.9 last season), goals (1.1 to 0.2) and inside 50s (4.2 to 2.7).
Still only 22, Thomas has a fresh slate under Clarkson and the talent to become a star of the competition.
He is capable of a 35-goal season as a bullocking, hybrid midfielder/forward or the Kangaroos may opt to give him a new lease on life in a quarterback role in defence.
Either way, if he can find his best form, it will give North a big boost in 2023.
Coach status
Hawthorn premiership mastermind Clarkson emerged from a one-season coaching hiatus to sign a five-year contract with the Kangaroos in August.
He will be the club’s third full-time senior coach since 2020 so the long-term deal ensures stability and time to turn things around.
That is important at the Kangaroos given Rhyce Shaw and Noble’s reigns of a mere two years each.
Getting Clarkson, one of the most successful coaches in history of the game, to join a battling club ahead of fierce rival Essendon is itself a massive coup.
The cloud hanging over his appointment and his first season at the helm of the Roos is the Hawthorn investigation, which will drag onto next year.
Clarkson denies any wrongdoing.
Who is in last year of contract?
Aaron Hall, Aiden Bonar, Ben McKay, Blake Drury, Charlie Comben, Daniel Howe, Flynn Perez, Hamish Free, Hugh Greenwood, Jack Mahony, Jack Ziebell, Jackson Archer,
Jacob Edwards, Josh Goater, Kallan Dawson, Kayne Turner, Lachie Young, Miller Bergman, Phoenix Spicer, Todd Goldstein
Outs from 2022
Jason Horne-Francis (traded – Port Adelaide), Jed Anderson (delisted – joined Gold Coast), Atu Bosenavulagi (delisted), Kyron Hayden (delisted), Tom Lynch (retired), Matt McGuinness (delisted), Jared Polec (delisted), Josh Walker (retired), Patrick Walker (delisted)
ins for 2023
Griffin Logue (traded – Fremantle), Darcy Tucker (traded – Fremantle), Liam Shiels (supplemental selection period – Hawthorn), Harry Sheezel (national draft, pick 3), George Wardlaw (national draft, pick 4), Brayden George (national draft, pick 26), Cooper Harvey (national draft, pick 56), Blake Drury (rookie draft, pick 1), Hamish Free (rookie draft, pick 19), Daniel Howe (rookie draft, pick 33 – from Hawthorn)
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Originally published as Where does your AFL club sit: Alastair Clarkson’s huge task to turn two-win Roos into competitive outfit
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