Alastair Clarkson wants to continue coaching Hawthorn. Jeff Kennett wants Sam Mitchell to coach Hawthorn. These are two statements of fact.
And they are mutually exclusive.
A succession plan only exists to the facilitate the change Hawthorn desires.
It was not a carefully orchestrated concept months in the planning with the elder statesmen ready to usher the apprentice into the job.
It was a shotgun arrangement with only the briefest conversation between Clarkson and Mitchell before it was publicly announced.
I remember standing with Mick Malthouse before his final Anzac Day as coach and he said to me in an interview as clear as day “I’ve lost my job”.
Kennett can bluster all he likes about what he has concocted, but it doesn’t take a great deal of insight to know Clarkson feels precisely the same way.
He’s losing his job.
This manoeuvre owes far more to politics and power than it does to football.
And holding back change, marking time for a year is typically disastrous.
In consecutive weeks we have had detailed reports from Tom Morris and Caroline Wilson about the misgivings within Hawthorn over how this will play out.
In both instances it’s been made plain Hawthorn would prefer Clarkson not continue as coach and let the fresh start begin.
If Alastair Clarkson declared Round 23 was his final game as coach it would come as a huge relief to the Hawks.
And that’s hardly the foundation stone for a succession plan.