Sad news: A LOT OF FANS HAVE JUST NOW WANTED TO LEAVE THE TEAM DUE TO THE HEAD COACH OF HAWTHORN CONTRACTS BEING TERMINATED.
Hawthorn’s long-term succession plan for Alastair Clarkson has collapsed, as it has been confirmed that the four-time premiership coach has left the team prior to the expiration of his contract.
Important details: Sam Mitchell was supposed to take over as Hawthorn coach the following year, but that arrangement fell through. As a result, Alastair Clarkson will conclude his tenure as Hawthorn coach at the end of the current campaign.
Sam Mitchell, a former player, will assume the role of coach starting in 2019.
At a late-afternoon press conference at Waverley Park, the two announced the coaching changes.
“We’ve come to the realisation that this footy club needed some fresh air from 2022 onwards,” Clarkson stated.
The club, he stated, must “free itself from my shadow”.
“I’m enormously grateful to this footy club for the opportunity I’ve had to coach at this great club,” Clarkson stated.
“Our club hasn’t performed any where near to the level that we would have liked for a whole heap of reasons and I’m a key contributor to that, of course,” he stated.
The Hawks declared just three weeks ago that Mitchell will take over as head coach in 2023 and collaborate with Clarkson in the upcoming campaign.
However, it was decided during a rumored crisis meeting between board members and Clarkson’s management on Thursday night that neither man would coach for the foreseeable future because the idea was not workable nor successful.
A “rescheduled” press conference was the first concrete indication that anything significant was happening today.
Three minutes after the conference’s scheduled start time, Clarkson was scheduled to address the media this morning, but a hurried email from the Hawks’ media team announced a change in schedule.
Mitchell, an AFL player who won four premierships and was coached by Clarkson for the majority of his career, resigned from the game in 2017 and spent a year as an assistant coach at West Coast.
According to Mitchell, it was “a really strange day”.
He spoke of Clarkson, saying, “I’m forever thankful for the position that he’s given me.”
Player worries
At Waverley Park, Clarkson oversaw today’s training, but some players weren’t aware of the news when they arrived.
It’s thought that a number of experienced players told club executives about their worries regarding the continuation of the Clarkson-Mitchell combo.
Recently, Hawthorn made their now-famous succession plan public, sparked by Collingwood’s interest in Mitchell to succeed fired coach Nathan Buckley.
Mitchell honored Clarkson and promised the team would rise again.
“I’m disappointed that we all end up here with a month to go but I hope that we get the opportunity over the next month to give Clarko what he deserves,” he stated.
