Here we go again:
Cat-and-mouse game continues at the Kangaroos
North Melbourne president Sonja Hood’s strength will continue to be tested after the arrival of new coach Alastair Clarkson.www.theage.com.au
Cat-and-mouse game continues at the Kangaroos
By Caroline Wilson
August 27, 2022 — 5.00am
The brutal game of cat and mouse playing out at Arden Street is far from finished. Having told his new president Sonja Hood that he needed strong football people around him to stay in his coaching lane, Alastair Clarkson wasted no time this week moving outside that lane.
Clarkson had joked on Tuesday night at a fundraising dinner for the AFL’s Cape York House that the final domino in the Kangaroos’ favour had fallen one week earlier when Essendon board member Kevin Sheedy suggested on Adelaide radio that he should go to North.
North Melbourne chief executive Ben Amarfio, coach Alastair Clarkson and president Sonja Hood.CREDIT:GETTY IMAGES
In all seriousness, though, even Clarkson would have been distracted by Essendon’s toxic internal divisions and overly empowered supporters and club legends. Hood had assured him she would create the environment his unique brand of coaching genius craved, but just to keep her honest Clarkson earlier on Tuesday underlined their unofficial agreement.
The new North coach told broadcaster Gerard Whateley that Peter Jackson and Geoff Walsh were two talented football statesmen not working in the game whose wisdom should be called upon. Clarkson’s comment underlined that the end was near for Kangaroos football boss Daniel McPherson and chief executive Ben Amarfio. He also suggested Hood’s previous public assessment of the Kangaroos’ list had been incorrect.
McPherson, whose departure from the club was announced on Thursday, came to North strongly recommended by Melbourne but never truly had a chance. Bureaucratically strangled by a structure where coach David Noble reported directly to Amarfio and working alongside list boss Brady Rawlings, who had struggled with the leadership role initially foisted upon him, he was browbeaten by Noble’s unusual, authoritative style. Football’s thirst for off-field talent will ensure he gets the second chance he deserves.
Amarfio, after a series of early but serious missteps during the COVID-19 lockdown, looks certain to pay the price not only for the unsuitable selection of Noble - whose performance and the drastic need for change seems to have headlined the Walsh investigation - but also because Clarkson has subtly demanded as much.
It is true he once worked at the AFL, but Amarfio’s relative dearth of football and club experience has been a key contributor to his anticipated downfall. Rarely has an executive without this experience succeeded at senior club level. Without over-analysing again the failures of the Ben Buckley presidency, it remains implausible that North removed Carl Dilena largely due to his so-called lack of robust football expertise when you look at the football missteps made since then.
Jackson, who has reportedly told Hood - despite Clarkson’s wish - that he has no interest in even a short-term full-time position, will step in next month to help oversee the CEO search. Walsh, who was expected to play a similar role to finalise some recommendations from his review, could relinquish the final say now that the structure he recommended has been adopted.
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Intriguingly Todd Viney, initially earmarked as coaching boss and Clarkson’s right-hand man, has taken on the No.1 football role and becomes Clarkson’s direct report. He will lead the search for a new high-performance boss, new recruiters and at least two new assistant coaches when he steps into his new role on a part-time basis next week.
Hood is said to have satisfied herself and her board that Viney, despite his long association with Clarkson at Melbourne and Hawthorn colleague, will strongly support his coach but stand in his way where required. Hood’s style has indicated that while she is no Jeff Kennett, she will not shy away from doing the same.
Numerous Essendon players vocally defended Ben Rutten in his final week despite their play leaving him in the firing line
Even taking into account David Barham - who after an ordinary start but with significant support, embarks on uniting the factions, weeding out the political troublemakers and implementing radical cultural change at Essendon - it is difficult to recall a more radical baptism of fire than Sonja Hood’s past six months.
Her play for Clarkson was bold and should it have failed it is difficult to envisage North Melbourne’s fate. That it worked remains her first triumph, but his nature is that he will continue to test her strength, particularly with strong feedback from the players that further change should be minimised.
Her strength was most significantly demonstrated when a behind-the-scenes challenge to her leadership took place back in July the weekend Noble was removed. That was when former North Melbourne powerbroker Mark Dawson suggested to Hood that he step onto the board with former Kangaroos executive Francis Trainor and taker over as president.
Even though Dawson felt it was an offer Hood could not refuse, she politely declined.
Reeks of an author still salty that Clarko went to north, but at the same time trying to back women in our sport. Just so confusing to read and has no purpose.
“Like yeah but nah, but also yeah then nah”
