‘It’s bulls***’: Clarko responds to ‘unbelievable’ $1.6m coach speculation

Clarkson and AFL360’s Gerard Whateley co-hosted a function on Friday where the Hawks mentor put rumours of his big payday to join North Melbourne to bed.

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“How explicit do you want me to be?” Whateley said on SEN when asked about Clarkson’s response.

“(He says it’s) bulls**t.

“That was Alastair Clarkson’s reaction to what’s in the public domain about $1.6 million to join North Melbourne.”

Whateley said Clarkson had “an embryonic discussion” with GWS, but hadn’t had “any contact” from North Melbourne.

“I think it’s fair to interpret that he resents the assumptions being made about him, and he was really clear that he’s not picking the club, it can’t work like that, he will challenge the club to pick him if it gets to that stage, but he believes in alignment, and he specially mentioned the president and the chief executive, and the club has to believe in him and he has to believe in the club,” Whateley explained.

Whateley’s AFL360 co-host Mark Robinson said he found the $1.6m-per-season reports “unbelievable”.

“The soft cap next year, which covers all total football club payments, is $6.9 million. It’s unbelievable to think a person would be so selfish to say: ‘I want $1.6 million from that to coach this team’,” Robinson said on 3AW.

“You’re not the right person (if that’s the case).

“I’m not saying Alastair Clarkson is selfish … but that figure is so out of whack. The four or five clubs I’ve spoken to (about that yearly figure) are flabbergasted.”

GWS board member and former Geelong great Jimmy Bartel admitted the club had “a conversation” with Clarkson after Leon Cameron departed the Giants earlier this year.

But he said Clarkson would need to take on a host of roles if he wanted to demand such a high pay grade.

“If someone took $1.6 or over $1 million, you’ve got to sacrifice somewhere,” he said on 3AW.

“At $1.6m, unless Clarko is moving the witches hat, doing some physio and working part time on top … (it’s not worth it).”

Mark Robinson believes there are just two current coaches in the AFL who command a million dollar pay check – Richmond’s three-time premiership coach Damien Hardwick and Sydney’s 2012 premiership coach John Longmire.

Originally published as ‘It’s bulls***’: Clarko responds to ‘unbelievable’ $1.6m coach speculation