Alistair Clarkson is officially entering the twilight of his coaching career. That is at Hawthorn at least.
Clarkson will hand over the keys to assistant coach and former player Sam Mitchell at the end of 2022. No future role has been identified for Clarkson beyond that point.
The master coach has long been linked with a move to Carlton who are currently conducting an external review of their entire football department including the position of head coach David Teague.
North Melbourne offered Clarkson a monster deal at the end of 2020 but he declined. There also remains a vacancy at Collingwood should Clarko want to take a new head coaching role before 2023.
Clarkson has reiterated that he will be remaining at Hawthorn until his contract expires but we have seen this move before. Mick Malthouse said he'd be a coaching director when succeeded by Nathan Buckley at the end of 2011 before he walked away from the role.
With that in mind we take a look at some of the best possible landing spots for the four-time premiership coach.
5. Greater Western Sydney
Leon Cameron is under just a slight bit of pressure and while the club will tell you he is going no where, would that be the case if Clarkson was keen to find a new club.
GWS seemingly have a good enough list to be playing finals for the upcoming years and a new coach could be the boost a player like skipper Stephen Coniglio needs to find his best again.
However, what if Cameron is their man? That doesn't mean there isn't a place for Clarko. The master-coach could work along-side his former assistant in the heralded coaching director role which again would be well-suited to Clarkson should he not wish to move from Melbourne on a full-time basis.
Could he help Cameron take that next step and help him become a premiership coach? The Giants seem set with their current set-up but Clarkson could command plenty of attention.
