Ratten stays away from Clarkson as he ‘keeps his seat warm’

North Melbourne caretaker coach Brett Ratten reveals why he is trying to avoid contact with Alastair Clarkson.

North Melbourne interim coach Brett Ratten says he wants to give Alastair Clarkson space away from football as he focuses on his wellbeing. Picture: Mark Stewart

Acting North Melbourne coach Brett Ratten is resisting the urge to reach out to Alastair Clarkson declaring he needs to “forget about footy” after stepping away from the game to focus on his well being.

Ratten, who took over last week after Clarkson’s decision to step down, said the pair chatted by text before and after North Melbourne’s heartbreaking three-point loss to Sydney at Marvel Stadium on Saturday.

But, conscious not to burden Clarkson with any undue anxiety as he continues to deal with the ongoing investigation in to historical allegations of racism, Ratten has avoided much contact ahead of this week’s showdown with Collingwood.

“Personally, it‘s an interesting one. I want to reach out to him,” Ratten told reporters on Thursday.

“But I want him just to forget about footy.

“And I just want him to take a breath, go for walks, do things where he‘s not consumed by the game and clear his mind and his wellbeing.

“I have been there thinking, ‘Do you want me to do anything?’ ... but I have just been very reluctant to do anything because we want to let him have his own space.”

North Melbourne caretaker coach Brett Ratten says he is “keeping the seat warm” for close friend Alastair Clarkson’s return. Picture: Daniel Pockett / Getty Images

Ratten said the four-time premiership coach would be a better chance to return to the game if he was given room to mend after his decision to step away.

“If we keep putting him in emails and all these things he gets every week or every day, he’s back in the same spot,” Ratten said.

“So let him have his freedom, let him have his space, let him get his well being back and get back here.

“I’m just keeping his seat warm.”

Ratten said he could not take credit for the strong performances of players including Bailey Scott and Eddie Ford which helped the Roos almost claim victory in his first game at the helm.

“Not at all, there’s things that you do in your program … sometimes they just take a little bit of time to transfer from the Monday to Friday into the weekend,” he said.

“We got a bit of a spike on some of the things that we’ve been working on, and that was through Al, that wasn’t me – that was what Al was doing.”

Originally published as Ratten stays away from Clarkson as he ‘keeps his seat warm’