AFL 2022: Alastair Clarkson’s MCG dinner with those involved in his remarkable coaching career
It was billed as a dinner to honour the may friends — and some foes — who helped him during his remarkable coaching career, but did Alastair Clarkson have an ulterior motive?
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Alastair Clarkson has broken bread with some of his closest allies — and occasional sparring partners — in an MCG dinner thanking the friends who shared his football journey.
Clarkson’s dinner brought together many of the people who helped win the Hawks four premiership in an era where the master coach’s break or break-through style frayed tempers and saw some of those staff move on because of the strain.
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Among those invited to the gathering were coaches Chris Fagan and Damien Hardwick, Pies football boss Graham Wright, Suns CEO Mark Evans, Pies assistant Brendon Bolton and Blues fitness boss Andrew Russell.
Evans and Russell were both integral members of the Hawthorn support staff, while Wright has made clear he and Clarkson are on good terms despite their differences before the football boss moved to Collingwood.
While Clarkson is the greatest coach of the modern era his workrate and determination to succeed meant at times he created a challenging work environment that saw coaches or officials move to rival clubs.
As Clarkson prepares for what is an almost certain return to the AFL coaching ranks next year or the following season onlookers were intrigued by the gathering.
As one observer said: “It had a whiff of a recruitment drive”, but Clarkson’s manager James Henderson recently told the Herald Sun he had not been in contact with any clubs about his client’s 2023 plans.
He told the Northern Territory News over the weekend he was not seriously considering a return to AFL ranks and was happy reconnecting with “what life looked like before I was heavily involved in coaching”.
“I’m really enjoying what I’m doing now, I’ve been pleasantly surprised I haven’t missed it as much (as I thought I would),” he said.
“I’m not in any hurry to jump back into it. If a great opportunity comes along, terrific, if it doesn’t, I’m happy to continue what I’m doing.”
While Clarkson is consistently linked to the coaching role of Gold Coast’s Stuart Dew, the pair are extremely close friends through their links at Port Adelaide and Hawthorn.
Clarkson recruited Dew to play a cameo role in the 2008 premiership.
He also attempted to recruit Dew while he was an assistant at Sydney but he ended up staying before ultimately being chosen as Gold Coast’s senior coach
Mitchell bins Clarko rule as Hawk new era dawns
Hawthorn launched into its new era under Sam Mitchell with a “trench warfare” victory over North Melbourne as the new coach vowed to let his players “express themselves” on field after welcoming back long-sleeved jumpers.
In Mitchell’s first home-and-away game in charge after taking over the reins from four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, the Hawks fought back from a 21-point deficit in the second quarter to score a 20-point victory over the Kangaroos at the MCG.
It was a win highlighted by the returns of star duo Jack Gunston, who kicked 3.4, and James Sicily (27 disposals) after long lay-offs through injury.
Taking over the senior coaching role one year earlier than the club had originally planned, Mitchell admitted the win wasn’t pretty to watch at times.
“I don’t think it would have been a great, clean ball handling game to watch but we did have some parts of the game that worked really well,” Mitchell said.
“So I think the consistency of effort and the workrate form the players, we had a lot of sore and tired boys towards the end so I think that means we left it all out there today.
“Today was probably more of an arm wrestle, more of a fight, more of a trench warfare type of game and so we equipped ourselves well.
“But we are going to play different games this year that are more skill based and we are going to have to perform better than we did tonight.”
Gunston only played one game last season after battling a crippling back problem, while Sicily had not played since Round 20, 2020, after overcoming a serious knee injury.
Mitchell said the pair had made an immediate impact for the team.
“I thought Jack started outstandingly well, (he) had a lot of opportunities and was a little bit disappointed talking to him after the game that he wasn’t able to make the most of those,” Mitchell said.
“From a leadership point of view, I thought he was really strong for us, particularly after he missed a couple of shots on goal, but then he used his composure and went back and kicked one and the energy amongst the group when he did that, I thought was significant.
“James behind the ball, his confidence I think his very first possessions, he went for a piercing risky kick and that’s what you expect from a guy like him who plays with that level of confidence. But to be honest I was not sure we would get that today, (in his) first game back for a little bit and I was really pleased with both of their performances.”
The game also marked the return of long sleeves at Hawthorn with forward Chad Wingard (two goals) donning the long jumper after Clarkson previously banned.
“Chad wanted to wear a long sleeve and it’s not something I spend too much time thinking about what jumpers the boys wear,” Mitchell said.
“My take on it as players, I want the players to be able to express themselves and Chad – whether he wants white hair and to have tattoos and wear long sleeve jumpers – if that is going to give him the best chance to feel like himself to give him the best chance to perform at his best then that’s up to him.
“I’m not going to get in his way, so anyone who wants to wear different things that are within the AFL rules.
“I quite enjoy it, I think the fans like it and I like the long sleeves, to be honest.”
Those who had flocked to the MCG to watch North Melbourne’s No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis show his wares needed only wait 20 seconds as he fired off a handball to send the Roos forward, ending with a Jy Sympkin goal.
The 18-year-old started forward but found himself around stoppages as the quarter progressed and looked every bit the Rolls Royce North fans had been promised when he burst away from a clearance on the wing to hit Nick Larkey with a 50m pass.
Horne-Francis’ first touch of the second quarter came after almost 15-minutes, and it was worth the wait.
Tucked up in the forward pocket of the Punt Rd end, the Roos looked trapped. The ball was fed back to Horne-Francis and off one step he bent the perfect snap back for the first goal of his career.
As is customary, every North Melbourne player flocked the man dubbed “the Hornet”.
“He was terrific, just to balance midfield time and forward (time) for a young man coming in in the midfield is a tough gig,” Kangaroos coach David Noble said.
“We’ve got to be careful about the balance because he can actually add some firepower down forward.
“But he’ll want to play all his game in the midfield and we’ll want to balance it.
“He showed some real class at times didn’t he. Clean off the deck, power to come away from a contest to get to the next one was pretty impressive.”
Noble said North Melbourne fans can expect to see Horne-Francis spend more time in the midfield as the season progresses.
“There’ll be days where we err on giving him more time in the midfield and therefore we’ll have to add an extra rotation,” he said.
“We’ll try to manage his game time and keep an eye on it as we go forward and see how his body recovers and how he pulls up.”
Despite the first half being riddled with missed kicks and dropped marks, the Roos were more efficient going forward and dominated clearances, led by Luke Davies-Uniacke (four clearances) and new boy Hugh Greenwood (three).
The two sides’ different game styles were on show as Hawthorn was intent on using handball to link up through the middle of the ground while North employed a more direct route.
Mitch Lewis was the best forward on the ground and benefitted from Ben McKay going off in the first quarter with concussion.
The 23-year-old marked everything that came his way and kicked two first-quarter goals. But it was his third goal which came on the back of a period of Hawthorn dominance in the third quarter which was his most important, giving the Hawks an 11-point advantage and keeping North arm’s length.
The returning James Sicily, playing his first game since Round 12 in 2020, and Changkuoth Jiath came into their own during the third term and helped keep the Roos to just one goal for the quarter.
Chad Wingard had largely been unsighted to three-quarter-time but came alive in at the start of the last term, answering a Todd Goldstein major with two of his own.
Late goals to Jack Gunston and Finn Maginness sealed the win for the Hawks as they piled on seven second-half goals to three.
Noble said the Roos’ lack of discipline late had been costly.
“We were undisciplined which has just got to be addressed, that’s just not good enough,” he said.
“We had seven-minutes where we gave away five free kicks and two 50s.
“Cal (Coleman-Jones) was having shot at goal and Nick gives away a free kick. I understand you get into the hustle and bustle, but we know damn well how the umpires are umpiring.
“We know the difficulty that umpiring is, so you shouldn’t give the umpires an opportunity to give a free against you… we’re having a shot on goal. We have got to get better than that.”
Davies-Uniacke’s hot start
He won the first clearance of the game and never looked back.
Luke Davies-Uniacke had a disposal every minute for the first nine-minutes of the game, putting together the kind of prolific midfield performance Roos fans had been longing for.
It wasn’t just that the 22-year-old found the ball at will, it was that he won clearances and used the ball with poise and class, having 176m gained for the quarter.
Davies Uniacke finished with 27 possessions.
Dead-eye misfires
Put it down to rust, but the sharpshooting Jack Gunston forgot to pack his kicking boots in his first game back since Round 7 last season.
Gunston’s addition had a clear flow-on effect as Mitch Lewis tore the first half to shreds with two goals and four contested marks, but it could’ve been even better for the Hawthorn forwards.
The 30-year-old had three easy — by his standards at least — shots on goal but sprayed them all before he finally kicked his first in the shadows of halftime, a perfectly judged snap which split the middle.
New boys’ mixed bag
Hugh Greenwood proved to be the perfect addition to North’s midfield with his inside work allowing Davies Uniacke to dominate on the outside.
Greenwood was instrumental at stoppages and finished the game with four clearances.
The going wasn’t as easy for former Richmond tall Callum Coleman-Jones who struggled to get his hands on the ball.
The 22-year-old did provide a foil for Nick Larkey, but only managed four disposals.
Hawthorn’s ruck recruit Max Lynch also endured a tough start to life at his new club and was subbed out of the game in the second quarter with concussion.
SCOREBOARD
HAWKS 2.4 4.7 7.9 11.12 78
ROOS 2.5 5.8 6.8 8.10 58
MOTTERSHEAD’S BEST
Hawks: Jiath, Gunston, Lewis, Mitchell, Sicily, Shiels.
Roos: Simpkin, Davies-Uniacke, McDonald, Hall, Greenwood.
GOALS
Hawks: Lewis 3, Gunston 3, Wingard 2, Moore, Newcombe, Maginness.
Roos: Simpkin 2, Goldstein 2, Larkey 2, Mahoney, Horne-Francis.
INJURIES
Hawks: Lynch (concussion).
Roos: Polec (ankle) replaced in selected side by Powell, McKay (concussion).
UMPIRES
Brown, Gianfagna, Pell.
VENUE
MCG
CROWD
38,279
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
JAMES MOTTERSHEAD’S VOTES
3 C. Jiath (HAW)
2 J. Gunston (HAW)
1 M. Lewis (HAW)
Early concussions hit Roos and Hawks
North Melbourne defender Ben McKay became an early casualty in the Kangaroos’ clash against Hawthorn at the MCG after he was subbed out of the match due to concussion.
McKay left the field late in the opening quarter after a clash on the Southern Stand wing and was taken to the rooms immediately for a concussion test.
The Kangaroos confirmed at the start of the second quarter McKay would not return to the field and medical substitute Charlie Lazzaro was activated.
McKay was left out of the Kangaroos’ AAMI series game against Sydney due to concussion protocols.
Not long afterwards, Hawks recruit Max Lynch also left the field for a concussion test after a head clash early in the second quarter.
The Hawks big man’s club debut was cut short, replaced by Tom Phillips halfway through the second quarter.
The loss of McKay came as the Hawks’ took a one-point lead in the quarter-time break in Sam Mitchell’s first game as coach.
North Melbourne’s No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis made an impressive start to his AFL career, grabbing six disposals in the opening term and a couple of score involvements.
Hawks forward Mitch Lewis was the early star for the match with six marks, two goals and seven disposals in the first term.
North Melbourne held a slender seven-point lead at halftime.
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