Mark Robinson: Alastair Clarkson has a choice of three very different clubs but which one suits him best?
Alistair Clarkson’s big decision wasn’t made easier with Essendon added to GWS and North Melbourne as suitors. So Mark Robinson asks, is Clarko Bombers bound?
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
What is Alastair Clarkson thinking?
He’s watching a bombshell development at Essendon, while wrestling with an offer from loveable North Melbourne and among all that is being wined and dined by the Giants in sexy Sydney.
Clarkson is looking for football compatibility.
Or is that affordability?
Or sustainability.
Certainly, all three clubs offer something different.
While Ben Rutten wasn’t sacked Monday by the Bombers, that’s not to say he won’t be, because the internal review will be replaced by an external review, and that will determine if Rutten will be sacked or not.
Always in football, you can fall out of love quickly.
Barely 10 days ago, the Herald Sun was told by key executives at the club that Rutten would be coaching in 2023.
Eager media types had Rutten sacked by midmorning on Monday, but that wasn’t the case.
Premature annunciation became midafternoon exasperation after it was revealed Rutten was not sacked.
Watch every blockbuster AFL match this weekend Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Their sources failed this time, much like the Bombers players did against Port Adelaide on Sunday.
Blood spilt in the boardroom, however.
Paul Brasher, who publicly and ferociously supported Rutten and chief executive Xavier Campbell this season, was on the wrong side of a coup d’état on Monday.
At this stage, Rutten is safe, although that probably depends on Clarkson’s ambitions, and certainly on the new review.
The Kangaroos would like an answer from Clarkson by Wednesday this week, or at least an indication that he will be at Arden St next year.
We’ll know if the Bombers are in play if Clarkson ignores the request from the Kangaroos.
Because while the Kangas are in love with Clarkson, there’s no point pursuing him if he’s not in love with them, and new president Sonja Hood is ready to initiate Plan B.
The Giants’ plan is convoluted as far as we know. They remain in the race for Clarkson but it’s understood they are yet to make him a formal offer.
How much they can offer is a curiosity. Do they have ambassadorial money to splash or not? Will their offer be more than what the Kangaroos can offer? Or is it even about money with Clarkson?
Sorry about the questions without answers.
The Bombers have serious Clarkson connections.
Campbell on Monday said he had not spoken to the premiership coach, but he was not asked if he had spoken to Clarkson’s manager James Henderson.
It’s tin tacks, but tin tacks have toppled coaches before.
Because way back when, Campbell worked with Henderson at Dynamic Sports and Entertainment Group, and to hype the Clarkson connection even more, it is said that new President Dave Barham is closer to Henderson than what Campbell is.
It’s difficult to believe amid the turmoil of the past two pathetic performances from the team, and the fact Clarkson is available, that some form of contact hasn’t been made between the club and Clarkson’s camp.
If it hasn’t, why hasn’t it?
Then again, you can’t call a full blown external review and, at the same time, have Barham, clutching a juicy contract, secretly meeting Clarkson at the back of Kmart in Doncaster.
Back in May, when Essendon’s season was careering towards the rocks, the Herald Sun pondered then that Clarkson should be approached.
Why did the Bombers resist?
The external review will determine if more blood will be spilt, and if there is, it will certainly come from within the football department and perhaps even from the front office.
The prevailing view at Essendon was that the current debacle is a football problem and not a club/culture problem, and that Campbell, who signed a two-year contract extension late last year, is safe.
But the announcement of the external review would suggest the board wants to know if it has a cultural and structural problem as well.
It’s not beyond the possibility that the coup becomes total carnage.
Perhaps Jason Dunstall gets another gig as The Official Football Club Reviewer, working in collaboration with professional types.
It’s believed there’s been division among the board since Brasher decided to go public and announce the internal review in May.
That review was a sham from the start.
It was supposed to be run by Sean Wellman, Simon Madden and Kevin Sheedy, when it was really being run by Wellman, Campbell and head of football Josh Mahoney.
How could the reviewers review themselves?
That it was made public by Brasher was seen by several key executives as ridiculous, in that it further invited scrutiny on top of the woeful on-field performances.
The results were revealed to the board about 10 days ago.
The Herald Sun was told by the same disenchanted key executives that Rutten would be coaching next year, and that it would be informally announced in the coming weeks.
The “coming weeks’’ delivered a shabby performance against GWS and the shameful display on Sunday against Port Adelaide.
It wasn’t lost any fan that James Hird and Mark McVeigh easily dismantled the Bombers in the coaches box against the Giants.
On Sunday, when the board met to discuss the findings of the internal review, the team delivered its worst performance of the year.
It was crystal clear then that only an external review could determine why this once great club was the laughing stock of the competition.
The first pillar fell Monday.
It won’t be the last.
If anything, the pursuit of Clarkson shows that Essendon is getting ruthless again.
More Coverage
Gather Round: Crows open again, Ken, Hawks set for blockbuster
One of the biggest moments of the AFL season came after the Power-Hawks final when Ken Hinkley told Jack Ginnivan he wouldn’t be flying to Sydney. Now we know when the rematch is coming.
Ralph: The key Dees developments that could save Goodwin’s job
Melbourne’s public review said it was capable of playing finals, but their game plan had to be refined, now the work begins for Simon Goodwin after a tumultuous 31 months, writes Jon Ralph.