Alastair Clarkson will coach North Melbourne in 2023 and beyond.
After deliberating between the Kangaroos and Essendon all week, Clarkson made the call on Friday morning.
North Melbourne great David King gave his immediate reaction upon hearing the news.
“Can I say well done Sonja Hood? She was prepared to cop the backlash that was going to come if the attempt was a failed one,” King told SEN Breakfast.
“This is a massive day for the North Melbourne Football Club. Welcome home Alastair.
“Let’s hope he can correct what has been a shambolic situation over the previous couple of years.
“This is so good. So good for the Kangas. Essendon will be all the talk, but this is a great day for North Melbourne.”
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Fellow North Melbourne premiership great Corey McKernan was equally excited on Friday morning.
“When you’ve had a tough year and had a tough time and then something like this happens, I reckon all the Kangaroos fans out there today can have a Wayne Carey like strut and know that it’s not going to guarantee success, but from a Kangaroos point of view to be able to land someone like that, one of the best in the field, it’s just a tremendous shot in the arm for the footy club,” McKernan told SEN’s the Captain’s Run.
“I think the flow-on effects will be immense, whether it’s retaining players, whether it means protracting people.
“Then the stuff that happens with the membership and sponsors and everything like that.
“Overall, the biggest thing it does – it gives you hope.
“Even things like seeing how all these players have developed next year and over the off-season.
“You talk about hope for fans, what about the players? What happens with the rumours with Jason Horne-Francis and some of the other players.
“All of a sudden now Clarko is there, I’d imagine that dramatically changes the conversation and the narrative around what’s going to happen with the North Melbourne Football Club.”
*North Melbourne has released a statement from President Dr Sonja Hood regarding the acquisition of their new coach. Read it below:
I’m delighted to announce that last night Alastair Clarkson agreed to coach the North Melbourne Football Club for the next five seasons.
Our former number 23, Shinboner #781, and four-time premiership coach will lead our talented, young group from 2023 until at least 2027.
This is a real watershed moment for our club, and I am writing to share it with members and supporters first – we’ll talk to media later today, but for now, this is a moment for all of us.
I can’t speak highly enough of the professionalism of Alastair and his manager James Henderson over this past four weeks. We’ve had a crash course in getting to know each other and Alastair’s passion to drive our club back to where we belong is incredibly infectious.
Alastair officially begins with us on November 1, and I’m looking forward to welcoming him, wife Caryn and children Stephanie, Georgia and Matthew, to the Shinboner family.
In the meantime, I hope to see as many of you as possible at Marvel tomorrow to thank Leigh Adams and his team for the outstanding job they have done over the last six weeks of the season.
I’ve lost count of the number of people who have remarked about how well Leigh has acquitted himself in the top job and we’ve been so blessed to have him. So to Patch, thanks for your hard work and congratulations on a job well done.
Finally, a few final words on another favourite son – the one and only Ben Cunnington. How good was it to see Ben return to the field in Adelaide last Saturday?
Now, this weekend, Ben plays on our home deck in front of our own people. Having been at Adelaide Oval last week, a few words of advice – wear lots of blue and white and remember to bring a hanky.
We look forward to seeing you all there to thank Patch, support Ben and cheer on our players in the last game of what has been an incredibly eventful 2022.
Thank you as always for your unwavering support and love for our club.
Today is a good day. Alastair’s coming home. To our home.
Go Roos!