SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 21: Alastair Clarkson, coach of the Hawks, looks on during the round 14 AFL match between the Sydney Swans and the Hawthorn Hawks at the Sydney Cricket Ground on June 21, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
According to former Hawthorn forward Ben Dixon, current Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson may leave the club at season's end.
Dixon believes Carlton could come in with a monster offer for Clarkson, which could pry the four-time premiership winner away from the club he's coached since 2005.
“I reckon that he will leave at the end of the year, ‘Clarko’,” Dixon said on the Don’t Argue podcast.
“I reckon he'll step out and coach someone else. A lot's going to change in 10 weeks.
“He is not in it for another rebuild to build to another flag (at Hawthorn).”
Despite Clarkson currently under contract until the end of the 2022 season, Dixon believes an offer of $2 million a year would be enough to bring Clarkson to Ikon Park.
“If you read his interview on (Fox Footy's) AFL 360 when he was asked, he said, I'll do what the club want me to do to the duration of his contract," Dixon said.
“But he'll get to a point right at the end of the year, where (he says), 'righto, we need to reassess that'. The goalposts change, they do, you can say that now.
“He's a legend at Hawthorn, he can't do any more.
“He (Clarkson) needs a new challenge big-time and I think his challenge is Carlton.
“I reckon Carlton hold off until the end of the year they are going to get their man for $2 mil (million a year).
“It’s a massive carrot, he’s been in the job, this is his 15th year. He’s done it all, he’s a Hawthorn legend.”