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View Full Version : An hour with Alistair Clarkson



GVGjr
18-08-2007, 10:16 PM
I went to a function mid week where the guest speaker was the Hawks coach Alistair Clarkson.

It was very candid talk and he is an extremely forthright character and really knows what he wants from the overall team perspective. He has a vastly different style to Rodney Eade who is politically savvy and rarely says a thing out of place. Clarkson calls a spade a spade and doesn't get too caught up in all the political correctness that a lot of other people in his position do.

Some of the subjects he talked about were:

The mistakes he made when he first went to the Hawks
Clarkson mentioned that when he was with Port they had a very competitive team and the focus there over his last two years was examining the opposition and working on the one and two percenters to try and gain an advantage over the other top teams. He said that's what top teams do to get an edge on the other top teams.

When he first joined the Hawks he thought that he could focus on roughly the same principles but then quickly learned that there was a number of area's mainly the professionalism of the players and support personnel that needed to be addressed.
He also realised that there was no quick fix and that he needed to concentrate on addressing everything that was wrong because they were just so far off the mark.

The opportunities
The Hawks had made a few on and off field decisions that have shaped the recovery and he tried to leverage against that.
One of the main ones was the move from Glenferrie to Waverley. At Glenferrie, the place was run down and not conducive to a professional environment. (sounds familiar doesn't it?) The coaching team therefore did not insist on the high personal standards with the playing group because the environment did not lend to it either. It was a dirty place and even when it was cleaned it was still a dirty place.
With the move to the new facility in Waverley, Clarkson demanded that the players lift their standards. Things like dirty towels being left on the floor or lockers being untidy was not something he was going to accept. From his perspective, if the player could not keep things neat and tidy for their other team mates then they had no place in his team.
The team had no choice to embrace his approach and suddenly he could see a change in the group.

Team First Football and Spida Everitt
Clarkson demanded that all players regardless of their individual skill take a team first approach. The example he provided was the Spida Everitt to Sydney move. Clarkson really rated Spida as a wonderfully gifted player and despite the rumours there was no rift between the two of them.
The problem lay with Spida doing the extra work that a struggling team needs to do with his midfield team mates.
Often Clarkson would identify an area that the midfield team needed to improve on and he would ask them to stay back and work on a particular point. Spida being such a good player would roll the eyes back and say just tell me what you want and I will do that. Spida could then back it up and do it because of his huge talent base but that wasn't good enough for Clarkson. He needed Spida to work with the group with a positive attitude because he also needed him to pretty much carry this group along and just executing the instruction was not enough.
Spida had never struggled to do any individual task a coach had ever asked him so he just wasn't as sympathetic towards other team mates that needed to do things over and over again before they got it. Spida thought those players needed to do the extra work not him.

Clarkson realised that Spida needed to go because the others might not reach their potential with him around. It's not that he wasn't a good guy to have around, he just wasn't what a developing side needed to reach it's potential. Everitt has had a good season in Sydney because they have an experienced midfield unit. The Hawks have now gone from strength to strength as well because the team has worked positively on the areas Clarkson has them focused on.

Recruiting, List Management and selling the Vision
Clarkson also talked about the importance of their recruiting process. When the Hawks visit a potential players home they want to see if their mothers wait on them and make the coffees etc. They really want to see that the player is independent enough to make the transition to living away from home. With the huge money that is spent on recruits now it's imperative to have players that can adjust to the new environment.

He mentioned that Franklin will be a superstar of the game but that the club also worked with all the youngsters on sharing the vision. Basically he will be paid very well but if money was the sole driver to him or anyone else staying at the club then they would facilitate a trade or a deal to allow him to move on. I get the impression that Clarkson fully agreed with Ports stance on Nick Stevens mainly because he had the stipulation of only being traded to Collingwood. Clarkson said that the Hawks players all know the score on what the clubs vision is and he will not stand in the way of anyone moving on if they value other things like money more.

All the way through the presentation Clarkson talked about the importance of selling the vision to everyone at the club. He will cut/deal move on any player from the list regardless of how much the supporters love them if they are not at Hawthorn to win a premiership and play team football.


It was one of the more interesting presentations I have heard and if he is successful in getting his vision across to all the players then the club is in for a very good era.

Bulldog Revolution
19-08-2007, 01:47 AM
interesting GVGJr - he certainly comes across as uncompromising, and its clear now thta hes done a brilliant job remodelling that team on the fly - it shows almost any club that you can turn things around relatively quickly if you know what you are doing.

The boy Thorp they drafted last year has looked a star in the making when I've seen him in the VFL so they clearly have some tall forward targets developing nicely. They probably still need another one or two key defenders though and a star running player.

GVGjr
19-08-2007, 07:04 AM
interesting GVGJr - he certainly comes across as uncompromising, and its clear now thta hes done a brilliant job remodelling that team on the fly - it shows almost any club that you can turn things around relatively quickly if you know what you are doing.

The boy Thorp they drafted last year has looked a star in the making when I've seen him in the VFL so they clearly have some tall forward targets developing nicely. They probably still need another one or two key defenders though and a star running player.

Yes the running players is the main issue but for talls they have both Thorp and Dowler still to develop and Muston as a tallish running player. They pretty much have their framework of a top 4 team.

Dry Rot
19-08-2007, 12:16 PM
Great read - thanks.

He sounds like a different character to that which has often been bagged.

Would be interesting to hear what they did at Geelong with their review too.

Eade needs to a lot more change management it seems.

LostDoggy
21-08-2007, 12:38 PM
Very interesting read - thanks for posting GVGjr.

I have been wondering during this season how the players have coped with the demolition of their facilities etc. It must be unsettling on some level and at the very least distracting. Interesting to read Clarkson's take on shifting to Waverley and the impact it has had on the playing group and support staff. I can't wait for our team to have clean and improved facilities available to them.

GVGjr
07-12-2014, 01:22 PM
Just thought I would give this a bump. Some might find it interesting.

Bulldog Joe
07-12-2014, 01:50 PM
Thanks GVGjr. It certainly is interesting to read now, given the success that he has enjoyed since the original post.

Shows that when you get the right behaviours working, and embraced by all, that success is better achieved and maintained.

azabob
07-12-2014, 01:52 PM
Just thought I would give this a bump. Some might find it interesting.

Glad you did bump it. I will try to add more later, but it appears we were working towards this. Hopefully Beveridge continues on the same path.

GVGjr
07-12-2014, 02:00 PM
Glad you did bump it. I will try to add more later, but it appears we were working towards this. Hopefully Beveridge continues on the same path.

Remember this is from 2007. I'd have to say things have worked out well for them and they stayed that course.

GVGjr
07-12-2014, 02:41 PM
Are there still lessons to learn from what Clarkson was saying back in 2007 or have they become the normal practice in the AFL?

Bulldog Revolution
07-12-2014, 02:42 PM
Funny you bump this, I spent some time with a HFC staff member a week a go, and was being told how Thorp was the biggest idiot they'd ever had at the club (which is funny because I'd posted earlier how he was a talent), and that Clarko did not tolerate d_heads, and that most of them did not survive in the system

She also said that they had loved Beveridge - LB would be trying to create the elite habits for our youngsters

Twodogs
07-12-2014, 03:28 PM
Thanks for bumping. It's a really interesting read in the light of recent events.

bornadog
07-12-2014, 05:53 PM
Are there still lessons to learn from what Clarkson was saying back in 2007 or have they become the normal practice in the AFL?

I think a lot of the original vision and what Clarkson said that day is now the norm in the AFL. Professionalism in the sport has really gone up a few notches over the past 5 years. Every club now has a professional environment to train at, recruiters are more diligent in checking players background etc. I would say with added media attention, social broadcasting and with the general information age, the spotlight on clubs and players has forced every club to have a no dickhead policy.

Clarkson was bang on with Franklin, and the team first approach is what makes Hawthorn a successful club.

GVGjr
07-12-2014, 06:33 PM
Just one point that I neglected to mention back when I started the thread.

Clarkson was asked about the Roughead, Franklin and Lewis draft. They had Roughead as the number one pick because he seemed to be the most determined to make it and they saw him as a potential leader. They also recognised that Franklin was a talent but he was a bit more immature than Roughead.
As you could imagine they were happy with the 3 selections.

Any doubts they had about Roughead over Franklin were dispelled when the club embarked on a Kokoda trek which was a regular occurrence back then.
He regarded most of today's youngsters as selfish and very 'me focused' and when they are subjected to testing physical demands they tend to shut everything else out. During the trek the players have to carry heavy back packs even carrying heavy logs of wood to try and show how hard it was for the Diggers. During one particular difficult part of the trek Clarkson observed Roughead helping one of the smaller guys who was struggling with the demands carrying his pack. Clarkson knew they had a potential leader.

Bulldog4life
07-12-2014, 09:22 PM
Just one point that I neglected to mention back when I started the thread.

Clarkson was asked about the Roughead, Franklin and Lewis draft. They had Roughead as the number one pick because he seemed to be the most determined to make it and they saw him as a potential leader. They also recognised that Franklin was a talent but he was a bit more immature than Roughead.
As you could imagine they were happy with the 3 selections.

Any doubts they had about Roughead over Franklin were dispelled when the club embarked on a Kokoda trek which was a regular occurrence back then.
He regarded most of today's youngsters as selfish and very 'me focused' and when they are subjected to testing physical demands they tend to shut everything else out. During the trek the players have to carry heavy back packs even carrying heavy logs of wood to try and show how hard it was for the Diggers. During one particular difficult part of the trek Clarkson observed Roughead helping one of the smaller guys who was struggling with the demands carrying his pack. Clarkson knew they had a potential leader.

Might run in the family. :)