‘Sliding doors’ coach moment yet to turn Roos into genuine contenders

It’s been dubbed the “elephant in the room”, but are we seeing enough improvement from North Melbourne under master coach Alastair Clarkson?

First Crack host Jay Clark says it was a “sliding doors” moment when four clubs – the Roos, St Kilda, Essendon and GWS all opted to head in new coaching directions at the end of 2022.

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The Giants nabbed Adam Kingsley, the Bombers got Brad Scott and St Kilda took Ross Lyon – all coaches who since that point have a 50 per cent win rate or better.

But Clarkson, the marquee signing rolled out by the Roos, remains languishing at 7-35 since taking over.

“Tell me the gap between these coaching records should be as big as they are since the start of 2023,” Clark said.

“We know they were a basket case and a complete mess at the time.

“We all agreed Alastair Clarkson, the premiership mastermind and the premiership blueprint, it felt like the right choice. But how is it going at the moment?

“In regards to talent, the North Melbourne Football Club has 10 top 15 draft picks on its list. Compare that to St Kilda (who) has six. This weekend North Melbourne had nine top 15 picks in its side. St Kilda had one.

“St Kilda is getting more out of less out of that team and Ross Lyon is doing what is quite clearly a far better job.

“It’s the elephant in the room.

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“They had their choice between the two experienced coaches at the time – Alastair Clarkson and Ross Lyon. They went for Clarkson which we all sort of agreed with at the time.

“It must be said now Ross Lyon made the comment ‘Well Carlton made its bed and I made mine’. Well so has North Melbourne.”

The Roos have just one win to their name this season, with their past three losses all by 50 points or more.

Clark argued it’s not a “talent problem” at the Roos given “they’ve got more first round draft picks than they know what to do with”.

Fellow Crack panellist Leigh Montagna believes it’s a system issue at the club, rather than a coaching one.

“There are a lot of people saying would another coach be getting more out of this North Melbourne list? Or is it just that the list and the place is that broken, it doesn’t matter whether you’ve got the greatest coach in the world, you’re not going to get a better performance and I think that’s a fair question to raise when we haven’t seen any improvement yet,” he said.

“There are still massive concerns for me.

“I don’t think the talent is the issue … when you look at their game, it’s the system that’s broken.”

But two-time premiership Roo David King said he couldn’t see a world where North Melbourne part ways with Clarkson.

“He’s not going to be sacked,” he said.

“The only way this shifts is if Alastair Clarkson walks in himself and says you know what? This hasn’t worked.”

“That won’t happen,” Clark added.

The Roos are sitting in 16th – just percentage ahead of Melbourne and one win clear of last-placed West Coast.

But they’ve got the worst defence in the competition, conceding an average of 117 points per game.