Ex-captain of the North Melbourne Kangaroos, Luke McDonald, has gone into bat for Alastair Clarkson, days after the legendary coach was sensationally relieved of his duties by club power brokers.
The gravity of "Clarko's axing has been compounded by the lack of tact shown by Sonja Hood and Todd Viney, who were scathing in their public review of the dumped coach, after asking him to remain professional in handling his departure.
Clarkson labeled the fiery press conference conducted by the duo "dancing on his grave", and is unlikely to take another role in the landscape following his ill-fated tenure at his former club.
Speaking to The Age, McDonald aluded his former coach's "big impact" on a young playing list.
“We loved ‘Clarko' (Alastair Clarkson),” McDonald said.
“We got on really well with Clarko. He had a big impact on a number of our players, but in saying that we also support the club's decision because we are not where we want to be right now. We want to still be playing. We want to be playing finals.
“It's an emotional decision ... we support the club's decision and we want to be playing September footy,
“We support the club's decision, but it doesn't make it any easier. I am not going to get into the nitty-gritty on the reasons because, at the end of the day, there is a lot of information the board have that we don't as players,” McDonald said.
McDonald said the onus is on the players, as well as the new coach, to drive the improvement most believe is imminent. The club have not played finals in over a decade, and are coming off a nine-win campaign.
“We are not where we want to be as a footy club. We want to keep improving and keep getting better. That comes from the playing group. Obviously, we are going to bring in a new coach who is going to help that, but it's going to come from our leaders, our young guys getting better and that is what we can control," McDonald said.
“When a decision like that is made, the first thing you do as players is reflect on yourself.
“We have got to be better and play better footy and put ourselves in better positions that don't lead to these decisions. The first thing we do as players is look at ourselves.
“I would have thought it would be an enviable job," he finished.
