AFL coach’s celebration act raises eyebrows after huge Kangaroos win

Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson had plenty to celebrate with his players, but one act has caught the attention of fans.

Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson had plenty to celebrate with his players, but one act has caught the attention of fans.

North Melbourne blew the Demons away in a second-half blitz at Marvel Stadium on Sunday with some calling the 59-point victory one of the club’s best wins under the four-time premiership coach.

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The Kangas’ post-match celebrations were highlighted by a guard of honour for former West Coast star Jack Darling as he reached the 300-game mark.

Clarkson was quick to congratulate Darling on his milestone and then walked around congratulating the rest of his players on the ground.

Fox Footy cameras broadcast one eye-catching moment where the 56-year-old appeared to show support for two members of the Kangaroos squad by tweaking their chests as he walked past them.

You can watch Clarkson’s celebrations in the video player above.

Alastair Clarkson celebrated with his players. Photo: Fox Footy.

Alastair Clarkson was very happy for his players. Photo: Fox Footy.

The live TV broadcast showed Clarkson embracing members of the team, before appearing to give Miller Bergman’s polo-shirt a squeeze at chest level.

Clarkson was then seen appearing to show Jackson Archer the same support with an apparent chest tweak.

The North Melbourne Football Club did not wish to say anything about the video when contacted by news.com.au.

One video of Clarkson’s celebrations first raised eyebrows when posted on the official Reddit AFL forum, which has 456,000 members.

The video has been swirling since that message was first shared on Sunday night.

Some footy fans on Reddit questioned if Clarkson had been showing his players too much affection, but the majority laughed the interactions off as standard football club behaviour.

“This is the least crazy interaction that happens within a footy club, play on,” one fan posted.

Another wrote: “It’s a simple expression of affection”.

One Reddit user called it “standard footy club activities”.

After North Melbourne’s big win on Sunday, Clarkson was being widely praised by footy commentators.

The beleaguered Kangaroos have endured the worst period in their history, and headed into 2025 on the back of five consecutive bottom-two finishes, including a pair of wooden spoons, with just 15 wins from their previous 107 games.

During that wretched run, they became the first team in VFL/AFL history to lose 20 games in three successive seasons.

However, all of that heartbreak and anguish melted away for two-and-a-half glorious hours at Marvel Stadium as they registered their biggest win in five years, NewsWire reports.

Clarkson described the start of the final quarter, in particular, as “very satisfying” as his side broke the contest open with the first six goals in the opening 10 minutes.

He praised ruckman Tristan Xerri’s influence during that period in his battle against seven-time All-Australian Max Gawn.

“They (Melbourne) are a high-quality midfield, and it’s very, very hard to get on top of them,” Clarkson said.

“I thought ‘X’ (Xerri) was fabulous in the ruck against Max and that’s where the ascendancy came from. I think we had four centre-bounce goals in the last quarter and that really broke the back of the Melbourne side when it can just pop straight out of centre and you get a goal straight away.

“It was really important that we were able to just split it open in a quick space of time, but it was just really a reflection of big ‘X’s game over the whole game and I’m glad he was able to get some reward for that period of the game where he was significantly influential just in that little patch.

“They’ve been far too infrequent for me and the Kangas, I must say, but it is pleasing when you can get on a roll like that.

“It was time for us to get a lick of the ice cream at the end.

“Games like today where the game is on the line at three-quarter time and finally a lot of hard work has paid off and we were able to salute on this particular occasion.”

But after such a lengthy period of darkness, Clarkson said it was too hard to say whether the emphatic victory could prove to be the long-awaited turning point that the Kangaroos craved so badly.

“It’s one victory. It’s a step in the right direction for us and there’s some validation and belief in the group,” Clarkson said.

“Plenty of times we’ve been in these (winning) positions before and we haven’t been able to capitalise on those chances.

“We’re hoping we can build into something but we know it takes a hell of a lot of hard work.

“How deep into games can we compete this year?

“All we intend to do is try to be as competitive as we can deep into games and we know that as we become a better side, we’ll be able to capitalise on some of those opportunities and turn them into victories for us.

“And when we become a really good side, we’ll be able to do that much more frequently than otherwise.”

— with NewsWire

Originally published as AFL coach’s celebration act raises eyebrows after huge Kangaroos win