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Sport Nation
“Walk away”: WA legend calls for Clarkson to step down
SEN • July 29th, 2025 8:45 am
Is Alastair Clarkson the right man for the job at North Melbourne?
Following yet another dismantling - conceding 150 points to lose miserably at the hands of Geelong by 101 points - the Kangaroos are staring down the barrel of a sixth consecutive season in the bottom two, having won just four games (and a draw) in 2025.
Despite a number of top draft picks and a constant influx of talent, the Roos have not been able to locate any form of success, with their multi-year rebuild continuously failing to deliver.
Their form over this season has been a serious cause for concern, as off-season moves - particularly the trade that dealt their future first round pick to Richmond for talented tall Matt Whitlock - suggested that the Roos were all in on making a push up the ladder.
However with four games remaining, they have once again fallen well short of general expectations.
While there is no denying that Clarkson's reputation as a coach will forever be highlighted by his immaculate four-flag run with Hawthorn, his time with North has been a disaster, winning just 10 of his 55 games in charge across three seasons thus far.
And now, following yet another humiliation, Fremantle legend Paul Hasleby believes it may be time for Clarkson to step aside.
“They gave up 150 points on the weekend, 77 inside 50s, 27 marks inside the forward 50, their system does not work!” Hasleby told SEN WA The Run Home.
“Jeremy Cameron kicked 11 goals, and that’s got to be on Alastair Clarkson. He has been there now for three years, there has been no improvement from this group, they continue to play Caleb Daniel, they continue to play Griffin Logue.
“Griffin Logue is nowhere with his defensive play at the moment. They brought in Jack Darling, Luke Parker… Caleb Daniel has made not one bit of difference to their team.
“In my opinion, Clarko should do the right thing by North Melbourne and walk away from his contract.
“He has got two more years left, he cannot honestly look them in the eye and say I’ve made improvement to this team.
“Even last year, they thought they were going to improve because they traded in Matt Whitlock, they brought him in, they gave away their first-round pick for this year, and they are a long way from it.
“He won’t be the answer for this football club in my opinion, because the defensive woes are just in-built with his coaching style.”
While Hasleby does concede that the lack of talent in the back half certainly plays a part in their inability to halt opposition scoring, he believes that the constant selection of recruit Daniel is incredibly difficult to justify given his lack of defensive stature.
“Yes, there’s a point you can make, I don’t think there’s enough talent in defence, but Caleb Daniel… what’s he doing?” he continued.
“When you’ve got a small defender like that, every other defender becomes vulnerable, because it’s a team defence.
“When you’ve got one that small, it makes it hard. You would do it, if that one that was so small is elite with what he is doing.
“He is not elite with his play anymore, with his ball use, with the way that he used to zip in and out of contests. He doesn’t do it anymore.”
The Roos currently sit 17th on the ladder with a 4-1-14 record. They next take on St Kilda at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
