Alastair Clarkson signs five-year contract to take over at North Melbourne
Four-time premiership winning coach Alastair Clarkson has ended weeks of speculation, confirming he'll take over at North Melbourne in 2023.
In an announcement from the club, the Kangaroos said agreement was reached on Thursday night on a five-year deal.
Clarkson's decision to join the Kangaroos muddies the waters at Essendon, who had been chasing Clarkson to replace Ben Rutten.
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Clarkson previously coached Hawthorn for 17 seasons, winning premierships in 2008, as well as the three-peat of 2013-14-15.
The Kangaroos have endured a tough few years, having not played finals football since 2016. Only an unlikely win this weekend would prevent them claiming a second straight wooden spoon.
Clarkson will be the fourth coach in five years at North Melbourne, returning to the club where he played 93 matches between 1987-1995.
"I can't speak highly enough of the professionalism of Alastair and his manager James Henderson over this past four weeks," club president Sonja Hood wrote in a letter to members.
"We've had a crash course in getting to know each other and Alastair's passion to drive our club back to where we belong is incredibly infectious.
"Today is a good day. Alastair's coming home. To our home."
North Melbourne great David King says Clarkson's appointment is the start of a fresh, exciting chapter for the club.
"Can I say well done Sonja Hood. She was prepared to cop the backlash that was going to come if the attempt was a failed one," King told SEN.
"This is a massive day for the North Melbourne Football Club. Welcome home Alastair.
"Let's hope he can correct what has been a shambolic situation over the previous couple of years.
"This is so good. So good for the Kangas. Essendon will be all the talk, but this is a great day for North Melbourne."
Another club legend, Corey McKernan, told SEN that Clarkson's appointment is a fantastic end to a tough year, one that's seen constant speculation over the long-term future of No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis, who was dropped last week for disciplinary reasons.
"It's just a tremendous shot in the arm for the footy club," McKernan said.
"You talk about hope for fans, what about the players? What happens with the rumours with Jason Horne-Francis and some of the other players.
"All of a sudden now Clarko is there, I'd imagine that dramatically changes the conversation and the narrative around what's going to happen with the North Melbourne Football Club."
Meanwhile, Gillon McLachlan has assured fans the AFL played no part in Clarkson's decision.
Clarkson is likely to earn somewhere in the region of $1 million a season, which is a fair chunk out of the club's soft cap of around $7 million.
Earlier this month McLachlan had flagged that ambassadorial payments may have been available to whichever club landed the premiership-winning coach.
"I'm keen to address that," McLachlan told 3AW's Neil Mitchell.
"There has been discussions around the place around ambassador stuff, I think people maybe thought that for Greater Western Sydney.
"It's exactly as I said, I think on your show, that Alastair had to make the decision on the basis of what the clubs put to him and we played no role in it."
McLachlan said the league is not contributing a cent to Clarkson's contract.
"No, zero," he said.
Clarkson will officially take over from interim coach Leigh Adams on November 1.
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