Justin Leppitsch has commented on how losing Alastair Clarkson may impact the club being an attractive destination for both players and coaches.
Due to Clarkson’s great history of bringing through coaches who ultimately become coaches, and in turn attracting players, Hawthorn has become an attractive target for players in recent season.
“People always wanted to go and work for Alastair Clarkson, it would be great to work for Clarko, and he’s got a great history of bringing through coaches that have become coaches and then that falls to the playing group as well,” Leppitsch said on SEN Crunch Time.
Despite gaining Sam Mitchell, Leppitsch has questioned whether losing Clarkson and his reputation will impact drawing both coaches and players to the Hawks.
“Does the next great coach coming out think I’d love to work with Sam Mitchell," he questioned.
“Does the next free agent come out and think 'geez I’d really love to work at Hawthorn' and work with Sam Mitchell? They don’t have that.
“They may have that he might be a great coach, but that’s one thing you lose also when you lose this, that’s just another watch for them.
“It doesn’t mean anything, or it may mean something in the long-term, it might mean getting a player, it might mean getting a coach you want.
“You just come back to the pack a little bit in that.”
The former Lions coach can relate due to being involved with the club during a very difficult and “stinky” time, and therefore finding it hard to attract the best talent.
“I found that at Brisbane, coaching Brisbane, I coached in a very stinky time of the footy club.
“When you’ve got that (stench), not saying Hawthorn is stinky, but when you’ve got that stench about you, it’s very hard to attract the best talent.
Clarkson is also known for his ability to reinvent injury-prone players such as Shaun Burgoyne.
Hawthorn can utilise the fact that their “medical team is still perceived to be the best in the competition” to allure talent to the club if all else fails.
“Tommy Scully is a great example … he was career over type stuff, in the media anyway,” he said.