A shocked Chris Fagan has labelled North Melbourne’s public explanation of coach Alastair Clarkson’s axing unfair and hopes his old friend was given a chance to act on any feedback before the rug was pulled.
Clarkson, who coached Hawthorn to four premierships in an era-defining stint from 2005 until 2021, arrived at North as head coach amid great fanfare after being appointed in August 2022.
Yesterday, with a year to run on his contract, he was unceremoniously axed by football boss Todd Viney, a close friend, and club president Sonja Hood.
Asked what type of coach the Kangaroos wanted, Hood, who declared Clarkson’s appointment had not been an error, said: “This club needs a coach who can coach for the modern game.
“It’ll be a coach who knows what they’re doing, and it’ll be a coach who’s the best fit for this football club.”
Viney said there were “still some gaping holes in our game plan” and Clarkson’s efforts to fill them only led to “more meetings, more information and players … becoming a bit more confused”.
The pair said a canvassing of the club, including players, revealed he no longer had the belief of enough people that he was the right coach to take the group forward.
“I hope he’s okay,” Brisbane Lions coach Fagan, who first worked with Clarkson at Melbourne in the late 90s before they joined forces at Hawthorn, said.
“I just hope that the feedback that was given at the press conference yesterday about him was given to him in person at some stage during this year, so that he had a chance to act on it.
“It was a pretty fierce press conference. The way that he was spoken about. I reckon probably an unfair description of the man that’s done awful lot for footy.“
The 58-year-old’s departure comes despite the Kangaroos’s improved season in 2026, when they finished 14th and claimed nine wins.
“It was a big shock to me. I actually thought, ‘That can’t be right,'” Fagan said of the call.
“Under his guidance, North really started to improve. It just reminded me of how tough coaching can be.
“That when a bloke that’s been as successful as him as a coach can be jettisoned as quickly as that.”
Clarkson (left) and Fagan (right) were central figures in the investigation into racism at Hawthorn during their time at the club. (Getty Images: Adam Trafford/AFL Media)
The pair were central figures in Hawthorn’s racism saga that was settled after two years of legal turmoil in 2024.
Clarkson took a mental health break in 2023 while Fagan, who has the Brisbane Lions in sight of a third-straight flag, admitted he came close to doing the same before opting to coach on.
Fagan, who has yet to speak to Clarkson, hopes his old mate is not lost to the game, and chuckled at the thought of him in a media role, given his typically frosty relationship with that industry.
“We go back a long way and we’ll still be friends and still talk a lot about footy, and I’ll still seek his advice, no doubt,” Fagan said.
AAP
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