Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Alastair Clarkson has shrugged off any suggestion he has lost his ruthless edge and insists he’s in for the long haul as North Melbourne coach.
North (1-5) have lost their past four games by an average of almost 59 points.
It has prompted criticism of the four-time premiership coach who was asked on Thursday whether he was as ruthless as he had been at Hawthorn.
“I wouldn’t come back into the job if I didn’t want to take on a challenge,” he said.
“There were other opportunities to maybe take on easier challenges in terms of trying to take a club into the eight a little bit quicker, or some teams were already in the eight.
“But part of the challenge of why I took it on, and others wanted to jump on board too, was just where the club was positioned at the time.
“And how exciting is it to actually take a club that is in significant adversity and try and bring them back up to the top of the ladder?
“At the minute, it looks like, well, we’re not making a lot of progress.
“But as long as the club stays together to stay stable, it’s going to turn.”
Clarkson, in his third season, pointed out Melbourne and Brisbane had years down the bottom before success.
“I wish I had the crystal ball to be able to look into … and say ‘this is the day that it’s going to happen for this footy club’,” he said.
“But all I can tell you is that day is getting closer. It’s not getting further away.
“And we’ll continue to back ourselves in until such time as the evaporation of time is just too great a period of time where they say ‘Clarko, I don’t think you’re the bloke anymore’.
“But for as long as I’ve still got the passion inside me to try to drive this club back to where I think you can get to, I’m in for the long haul.”
Clarkson said there was still room to spray players when required – but it wasn’t necessarily the right approach.
“There’s a time where there’s a tough love, and there’s also a time where you need to just wrap your arms around them,” he said.
“And some of that, to be fair, is with our players – it needs probably more wrap an arm around them, rather than giving them a cook.
“This footy club, for various reasons, has been in the doldrums for a fair period of time – so to keep whacking them, that’s not helping us go forward.
“So I know the outside world might want to bring back the bash and crash in terms of the verbal sprays and that sort of stuff.
“But you’ve just got to understand the environment.”
The Kangaroos face Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, which will mark Luke Parker’s 300th AFL game.
