The race for Alastair Clarkson’s signature is heating up, with reportedly up to eight clubs in contact with the four-time premiership coach, per the Herald Sun.
The former Hawthorn mentor is on coaching sabbatical in 2022 after departing Waverley Park last year, however it’s understood he’s looking to get back into the coaching game next season.
Multiple AFL coaches are under pressure to keep their jobs beyond this season, with West Coast, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney all potentially at the front of the market for a new coach.
Speaking on SEN’s Whateley, Port Adelaide champion Kane Cornes suggested Clarkson was most likely to succeed Leon Cameron at the Giants due to the club's list profile
“He’s ending up at Gold Coast or the Giants I think,” he said.
“On Monday’s Footy Classified I said West Coast (due to) their resources and the way it appears it’s going to play out for Adam Simpson and the Eagles.
“I was probably incorrect in saying that considering Alastair Clarkson’s record at rebuilding, which is exactly what West Coast needs to do.
“West Coast, they need to be fully in for the draft. They haven’t had a top 10 pick since 2012.
“So he’s not going to West Coast, the three that I get can to are Gold Coast, the Giants and North Melbourne.
“Probably the Giants, I think he’s not going to want to be a coach that’s going to lose a lot of games for the first three or four years of his career.
“His best case for success is at the Giants, we know it’s pretty obvious that Leon is leaving, despite their win against Adelaide I think that is still on the cards.”
Cornes also added that Clarkson’s “chink in his armour” surrounding his inability to rebuild a list would make it harder for a struggling club to appoint him.
The Eagles in particular look set for a lengthy rebuild with several aging stars and a lack of top draftees, while Gold Coast has never made the top eight.
Meanwhile, there were high hopes for the Giants entering 2022 after making the semi-finals last year.
“If he’s got one chink in his armour, ‘Clarko’ (Clarkson) it’s his inability to rebuild a group,” he said.
“I think at times it is easy to look back with rose coloured glasses, (but) he did not win a final for his last six years at Hawthorn.
“Between 2012 and 2020 they took three players in the first round of the draft, he hates the draft, he’s said on record he doesn’t like the compromised nature of it.”
Clarkson could also be interested in coaching the proposed Tasmanian side, with club presidents to vote on a 19th AFL license later this year.