Alastair Clarkson set to recommit to Hawthorn on long-term deal
ALASTAIR Clarkson is set to recommit to Hawthorn on a long term deal after beginning contract discussions with the club he has coached to four premierships.
Hawthorn
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ALASTAIR Clarkson has started contract talks on a deal that will lock him away at Hawthorn until 2022.
The three-year extension past his current deal until 2019 is a massive show of faith from the four-time premiership coach.
Clarkson’s manager James Henderson told the Herald Sun that talks that were scheduled for the post-season had already commenced.
They could take several months but a contract extension handing him four more seasons past 2018 will be done before December.
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The club’s current five-year strategic plan titled Dare to Be Different takes in 2018-2022, so it makes sense for Clarkson to sign until that date.
He is already one of the best-paid coaches in the competition but could earn much more at a rival club on the open market.
Henderson said the coaching legend was happy to remain at Hawthorn for the foreseeable future.
“We have started talks. The intent was always to leave it until the end of the year but it’s the right time to start talking now,” Henderson told the Herald Sun.
“It is all very positive. So there is dialogue going on now that wasn’t going on three months ago. We are lining up what it might look like.”
The club’s decision to postpone talks until the end of the season had supporters skittish at one stage as they wondered if he might depart.
But Clarkson is determined to plan for the club’s next premiership, with Hawthorn having ambitious goals about more success.
Clarkson would be expected to receive another pay rise but the AFL’s $9.3 million football department cap limits the scope of senior coaching salaries.
It comes as the Hawks and Brett Ratten agreed to part ways at season’s end as Hawthorn considers a revamp of its coaching structures.
Ratten’s move, revealed by the Herald Sun on Thursday, comes after six seasons and three premierships as an assistant coach at the Hawks.
He has made no secret that he would consider a senior role if it was the right fit for him after considerable success at Carlton.
He won 60 of his 120 games at Carlton and took them to the 2011 semi-final playing an attractive brand of football.
But the Hawks couldn’t guarantee him a contract next year as they consider how they structure their coaching department next year.
Next year the Hawks could rejig the coaching responsibilities of their panel, which currently has coaches including Darren Glass, Adem Yze and Scott Burns.
St Kilda has already told three coaches in Lindsay Gilbee, Rohan Welsh and Simon McPhee they will not be required next year.
The August 1 deadline under an agreement between clubs and the AFL Coaches Association allows coaches 100 days to find new employment until contracts run out.
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Originally published as Alastair Clarkson set to recommit to Hawthorn on long-term deal
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