How Alistair Clarkson’s emotional outpouring helped spark North Melbourne’s turnaround

A North Melbourne big man Charlie Comben has revealed fiery coach Alastair Clarkson bared his soul to the playing group over his difficult 18 months, helping spark a month of hot form.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 29: Alastair Clarkson, Senior Coach of the Kangaroos looks on after the round 16 AFL match between North Melbourne Kangaroos and Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium, on June 29, 2024, in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson opened up about the depth of his personal struggles to the Roos’ playing group at the start of the club’s remarkable turnaround.

Clarkson, who has strongly maintained his innocence in Hawthorn’s racism saga, spoke about his difficult 18 months in the lead-up to the club’s first win of the season over West Coast last month.

The Roos were coming off 11 straight losses when Clarkson, one of the greatest coaches of the modern era, lifted the lid on his emotions of his recent journey in a bid to help encourage more connection between everyone at the club.

It has coincided with some game style tweaks which has helped spark a sharp improvement for his team over the past month including a win over Gold Coast and spirited performances against Collingwood, Melbourne and Western Bulldogs.

Alastair Clarkson has opened up to the North Melbourne playing group. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images.

Much-improved defender Charlie Comben said Clarkson’s emotional discussion with the players struck a chord ahead of the Round 14 turnaround.

Comben said Clarkson reaffirmed his commitment to the Kangaroos’ players despite the poor start to the 2024 season.

“Clarko opened up about how he has had a pretty tumultuous last year-and-a-half and he more or less said he is ‘all in’,” Comben said.

“He has been struggling with it and he wanted us to understand it and what he had been going through.

“It was a really special and touching moment and we really appreciated that.

“He was a little bit (emotional). It was a pretty candid chat.

“It was something we really appreciated and I feel a lot closer to him for that as well.”

The Roos have also played taller in attack over the past month and focused more on extracting advantage from their clearance game around stars Luke Davies-Uniacke and George Wardlaw.

Clarkson has a reputation as one of footy’s most ferocious competitors having led Hawthorn to four premierships in one of the game’s most successful runs.

He was poached by North Melbourne to help lead the club’s rise up the ladder but there have been plenty of hurdles including a fine for swearing at opposition players in a pre-season game against St Kilda. He also took some time away last year to deal with the fallout of the Hawks’ racism saga.

Comben said the Clarkson speech was part of the club’s attempts to be more connected as a whole.

“He spoke about the importance of connection and really getting to know one another on a personal level,” Comben said on Triple M.

“Obviously most football clubs have an emphasis on that, but I feel that is something we have really tried to explore more deeply this year.”

The Roos will attempt to chalk up back-to-back wins against Sydney Swans at the SCG on Saturday.

The Kangas last won at the venue in 2018.