North Melbourne prepare for coach Alastair Clarkson to resume duties

After giving Alastair Clarkson his distance, North Melbourne officials have ramped up talks with the absent master coach and a return is looming.

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson mightn’t be far away from returning to the club. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

North Melbourne caretaker coach Brett Ratten has revealed he spoke at length with Alastair Clarkson over the club’s bye as officials prepare for his return to the helm of the side before the end of the season.

While a date has not been locked in for Clarkson to resume his duties, Ratten said the premiership winner was enthusiastic about the team’s progress and had been keeping a close eye on trends in the game to be ready when he made his comeback.

Ratten said North Melbourne chief executive Jen Watt and football boss Todd Viney were working closely with Clarkson to determine how he would return to the club, with a strong possibility that he resumes in a lighter role before eventually taking back the senior coach position.

“What sort of stepping stone is it for (Clarkson) to be the senior coach … is there one step, two steps, four steps or no steps? They’re the questions we’re trying to work out for him,” Ratten said.

“From that point of view, we’ll just let Todd and Jen and the club work through that … I know what my role is.

“What I do know is he’s going to coach the North Melbourne footy club, but how does it look and when, that’ll just take a little bit of time.”

Alastair Clarkson with Brett Ratten before he stepped away. Picture Steve Bell/Getty Images)

Ratten said the Roos had remained faithful to Clarkson’s game plan since he stepped away in round 9, barring “a couple of little tweaks” that he had agreed to.

“I did catch up with him the other day for the first time and he was up and about, smile on the face and really positive,” Ratten said.

“We were just talking footy, we were chatting about us and trends in the game … we spoke for about an hour and a half and it was a good chat about everything going on.

“The progress of the kids I think puts smiles on Clarko’s face, but it puts smiles on a lot of our fans and a lot of people in the building, about (George) Wardlaw and blokes stepping up.”

George Wardlaw is developing nicely. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Star on-baller Luke Davies-Uniacke is set to return from a hamstring injury against Adelaide on Saturday, which Ratten said would lead to a difficult decision to take out a member of the Roos’ significantly improved midfield.

Wardlaw managed only nine disposals in the pre-bye loss to the Western Bulldogs, but Ratten hinted the 19-year-old’s spot would be safe.

He said the break had been important for his younger players to freshen up.

“It is a little bit (tricky) … if you’ve got an overload of mids where do they play, that’s been part of the conversation,” Ratten said.

“Some of the growth that we’ve had from our midfielders has been enormous, so we want to keep that going.”

He said promising ruckman Tristan Xerri would likely need two more weeks in the VFL before being available for senior selection following his return from a broken ankle.