Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson promises Jarryd Roughead a spot on 2019 list
FEARS Jarryd Roughead would be pushed out the door at Hawthorn reached fever pitch last night, but Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has guaranteed the Hawks’ captain a spot on next year’s list — if he wants it.
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HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson has guaranteed Jarryd Roughead a spot on the list next year if he wants it, saying the pair are on “exactly the same page”.
Speculation about the Hawks captain reached fever pitch on last night when Clarkson said Roughead had “about six options in front of him”, including not to play on or to finish his career at another club.
The options were the same put to fellow four-time premiership Hawks Sam Mitchell and Jordan Lewis at the end of 2016. They left the club for West Coast and Melbourne respectively.
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Another former teammate, Luke Hodge, chose to retire at the end of last year before being convinced to continue his playing days at Brisbane Lions.
Roughead, who turns 32 in January, has been down on his lofty standards this year but has still averaged 15.5 disposals and kicked 29 goals from 20 games.
Clarkson told Fox Footy’s AFL360 on Monday he had “exactly the same conversation” with Roughead as with Mitchell and Lewis in 2016, but yesterday he moved to allay supporters’ fears that the forward would be pushed out the door.
“We’re both on exactly the same page. Unless something happens unbelievably dramatically, which it can but (is) unlikely to, Roughy will be playing at Hawthorn next year,” Clarkson said on SEN radio.
“That’s been the outcome of the discussions we’ve had over the last six weeks.
“I’d like to put that on record to say that Roughy’s contracted for next year, we expect him to play next year. All the discussions I’ve had in the last six weeks with him have just been about presenting him with options so that we can talk transparently about all the different things.
“This is about his next six years, not about his six months. But after all those discussions, his view is that he wants to continue at the Hawks next year and there’s no reason why we don’t want to support that because he is contracted. So he’ll be running around in a brown and gold jumper next year.”
THE EXPENDABLES
SAM MITCHELL
Games: 329 (retired)
Premierships: 4
Traded to West Coast in 2016
LUKE HODGE
Games: 320
Premierships: 4
Traded to Brisbane Lions in 2017
JORDAN LEWIS
Games: 304
Premierships: 4
Traded to Melbourne Demons in 2016
Originally published as Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson promises Jarryd Roughead a spot on 2019 list