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“Without a doubt”: Clarkson's biggest issue with the AFL
Ethan Clark • August 21st, 2025 10:46 am
Four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson has expressed his dissatisfaction with the return date of AFL pre-season training.
Speaking to Garry Lyon and Tim Watson on SEN Breakfast, Clarkson questioned why teams that miss finals return to training at a similar time to those that make it deep into September.
Last season, first to fourth year players for teams that missed finals returned to the track on November 11, 44 days after the Grand Final.
Two weeks later, Brisbane Lions and Sydney Swans kicked off their pre-season. This means the total time between the final game of the season and the first day of pre-season training was 79 days for North Melbourne and just 59 days for the Grand Finalists.
Clarkson believes this is one of the most pressing issues he faces as a senior coach.
“The biggest issue I’ve got is that it’s not equal for all clubs,” he said.
“All clubs come back, whether you go through to the Grand Final or not, within a week or two of each other when there’s a gap of four or five weeks between the 10 sides that don’t play finals and the two teams that do get through to the end of finals.
“Those extra four or five weeks those clubs get are the most important weeks of the year (…) so it’s just enormous value for those clubs and it just gives them another shot in the arm (compared to) clubs that don’t make the eight.
“Without a doubt (I’d like more time with the players) but the rules are the rules and you’ve just got to abide by what the AFLPA put in place.
“It makes it tougher but it’s even more incentive to get up the top and get that benefit.”
North Melbourne haven’t made finals since 2016 and this will continue with another bottom-four finish in 2025 after their final game against Adelaide this Saturday at Marvel Stadium.
