An expansive and candid Alastair Clarkson has opened up about his future as North Melbourne coach.
Despite a notoriously easy draw this year, playing each bottom four side twice, the Kangaroos have not been able to cash in and are almost certain to extend their decade-long streak without finals footy.
The four-time Hawthorn premiership coach would need the Roos to finish the season with four consecutive wins against top 10 opponents if they are to reach Wildcard Round, but Clarkson insists he hasn't thought about his future.
“Pretty much zero,” Clarkson, who is out-of-contract at the end of next year, said when asked how much he thought about his future.
“The landscape when I came to this footy club, it digs pretty deep for me that this was the footy club that gave me an opportunity when I was a young fella and things were tough in the life and I had a great passion for the game that was when I was 17 back in 1986 and here I am still involved all these years later, a lot (of my involvement) through the North Melbourne Footy Club.”
The Roos won just 13 games between 2022, when Clarkson arrived on a lucrative contract, and 2025, with the external expectation that the Roos would need to reach the expanded finals format this year to show the necessary improvement.
With that not set to happen, pressure has begun to mount on the legendary coach.
“North's a little bit on life support and needed some assistance, someone to stabilise the club. Am I going to be here when we finally salute? I'm not sure," Clarkson admitted.
“There can be no guarantees of that but my role right from the get-go has been to help this club get on its feet again, get upright, get stable, have good continuity and at some point in time, like every coach, there is a time when you get a tap on the shoulder where they say they think there's someone who can do it better or it's time to move on…my key focus is to help this footy club.
“I want this club to win silverware and I want to be part of it but not for dear life for the sake of it to coach as many games as I can.
“If I'm not the guy, I can ride off into the sunset quite easily with the privilege of having been involved for 40 years so whether it goes for another 10 years or one or two is water off a duck's back for me.”
Clarkson's honest outlook followed Charlie Comben recommitting until 2032, following the young core of Luke Davied-Uniacke, George Wardlaw and Harry Sheezel in standing by the club and supporting the direction.
