http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23570719-12270,00.html
Remind me again - wasn't Fatprick the bloke who lambasted everyone at Hawthorn for signing Clarkson in the first place?
Bi-polar much?
uirky Hawks must act quickly
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Patrick Smith | April 21, 2008
HAWTHORN is a quirky club, does quirky things. That is hardly a criticism, for the club is undefeated with a game plan that, for the moment anyway, not even the great coaches can unravel. But it is an observation about a club that does not follow, without thought and assessment, every new trend in football.
The modern Hawthorn was born in the agony and ecstasy of the failed merger with Melbourne in 1996. Ian Dicker became the new president in 1997 and rebuilt the club. His leadership was as zany as it was clever - remember the proposed monorail to Waverley Park? But he stabilised a club that wanted to stand alone but had neither the feet nor the brains to do it.
Dicker mobilised not just Hawthorn fans but football followers in Melbourne's eastern suburbs and even further abroad, as he sought to save Waverley Park, set to be sacrificed for the new domed stadium at Docklands. Membership grew the more Dicker fought for his ground and his club. He arranged buses to pick up supporters and dump them at the ground.
He lost Waverley as a venue for AFL matches but won a substantial compensation from the league, then brokered the deal of a lifetime when he gained access to Waverley Park as a base and training centre for the peppercorn price of $1.
Better still, every time the Hawks were in danger of returning a loss, Dicker put them back into the black with a personal donation.
Dicker oversaw the replacement of Ken Judge as coach, then moved on Peter Schwab before the end of the 2004 season. Dicker had subtly but unfortunately moved from president to an unhealthy hands-on role. A father-figure rather than a dispassionate administrator, that brought him far too close to the players. They were indulged and selfish and they brought a decent man like Schwab undone.
The appointment of the next coach, Alastair Clarkson, was comical. Dicker was determined to interview everybody and anything to ensure the club got the right man - or woman. Kylie Minogue was said to have made the short list. So was Zorro. Tried and respected coaches like Terry Wallace and Rodney Eade were overlooked, Mark Harvey was not even contacted, apparently because the committee had lost his mobile phone number.
Some excuse as silly as that, anyway.
The result was the appointment of Clarkson, a confident but untried assistant coach from Port Adelaide. It has proved an inspired choice by the Hawthorn board. Clarkson proved ruthless from day one, cleaning out a tired and bored list. He had an influx of young players through the draft - Jarryd Roughead, Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis in his first year - but it was a grim start nonetheless for the new coach.
The club finished 14th with five wins in Clarkson's first year. It had lost more games than it had won halfway through 2006, when Hawthorn made the controversial decision to reappoint the coach for another two years. Given that the club was struggling and Clarkson, on his record at the Hawks, was unlikely to be pinched by another club, it seemed a premature appointment. Quirky even.
Cappuccino Kennett, who had taken over from Dicker as president, was unrepentant. It was a move greatly criticised by supporters and the media. From round 12 the club lost six matches in a row which left it with five wins from 18 games.
But Cappuccino and his chief executive Ian Robson knew what they were doing. The club won the last four matches, finishing with momentum and enthusiasm. The following year the club finished with 13 wins, lost the first semi-final against the Kangaroos but emerged as a future force.
Now the club has won its first five matches of the season, along the way beating North Melbourne, Adelaide and, on Saturday night, Brisbane. Hawthorn had not beaten Brisbane up north since the late 17th century. Defending premier Geelong is the only other undefeated team.
Lions' coach Leigh Matthews was nearly able to shut down Hawthorn's overlapping run but a loss of concentration at the start of the last quarter and the frightening presence of Franklin was an overwhelming combination.
Clarkson's coaching contract runs out at the end of the season. Hawthorn has so far chosen not to re-sign him. The delay is as quirky as was the rush to appoint him in 2006. No-one might have been interested in signing Clarkson two years ago but they would line up to have him coach their clubs now. Brett Ratten, Dean Bailey, Mark Williams, Mark Harvey and John Worsfold have won just five games out of 25 between them.
There is an even greater imperative, of course, and that is the new teams up north on the Gold Coast and western Sydney. It appears both new sides will be based around youth teams before they join the AFL and there appears no better coach of developing footballers than Clarkson.
Matthew Knights at Essendon is praised for his investment in youth and devising a run-and-carry game. Yet Hawthorn (average age 22 years, 220 days at the start of the season and 42 games per player) is younger and less experienced than Essendon (22 years 351 days, 52 games). And where Hawthorn's game plan is fully developed, Essendon's is worryingly one-dimensional.
Of course, Clarkson has Franklin, perhaps the most entrancing footballer in the game.
But Franklin, a combustible character, has Clarkson, who has managed the footballer's rare talent with wise touch.
Clarkson is one of the superior coaches in the AFL. He is a wanted man, who might take the Hawks to a premiership in September. The Hawks should not act quirkily, but quickly. Sign him.
Remind me again - wasn't Fatprick the bloke who lambasted everyone at Hawthorn for signing Clarkson in the first place?
Bi-polar much?
