Unless Clarkson coaches next year it is a charade which will cost the Hawks and their bursting football soft cap close to $1 million over the next two years.
And it is a charade which was very quickly exposed when it became apparent thatClarkson and Sam Mitchell had significantly different philosophies regarding the game plan,list management and the procedural nature of the handover.
None of this should have been a surprise to Hawthorn’s board and football management but it was laid bare in the meeting mediated by Leading Teams’ Ray McLean two Tuesdays ago in which it became clear that the partnership was not going to work.
The alarm bells should have rung and probably did for Clarkson when the disconnections were reportedly thrashed out at a meeting of the football sub-committee – a meeting the coach did not attend even though he sits on the committee. It was at that meeting it became clear that Mitchell’s preference was to be the No. 1 decision-maker in 2022.
The board and Reeves should have reached a termination agreement then and reportedly went down that road but for some reason changed their minds and pushed on,leaving Mitchell and Clarkson to face the music and give their unique respective version of events.
Kennett’s denials then now seem a little ridiculous given what he agreed to in a meeting with Clarkson’s management on Thursday. But then it was Kennett who said last year:“We won’t be sacking Alastair ...” And who has disrespected both coaches with his teasing attempts to intrigue club members in his semi-regular newsletters.