Alastair Clarkson - Coaching Career

Coaching Career

Clarkson moved into coaching, first with Werribee in the VFL, followed by roles at St Kilda and Central District where he was a Premiership coach in 2001. In 2003 he became the midfield coach at Port Adelaide and forward coach in 2004.

He was appointed his first senior AFL coaching role at the Hawthorn Football Club for the 2005 season, when the Hawks appointed Clarkson to lead their rebuilding phase. While his side could only manage five wins in his debut season, finishing 14th, 2006 saw the side improve, winning their last four games in a row and taking them to 11th spot on the ladder. The Hawks continued to improve in 2007, winning 13 games and finishing fifth on the Premiership table. This took them into the finals, where they defeated Adelaide in the Elimination Final, before being eliminated in the Semi Final against North Melbourne.

On 13 May 2008, the Hawthorn Football Club announced that Clarkson had signed a contract until the end of 2011. In 2008, Clarkson took the Hawks to second place on the home-and-away ladder, before guiding the team to the premiership with a Grand Final victory against Geelong, a team which had lost only game during that year. In doing so, Clarkson became the first (and, as of 2011, only) coach to ever lead his sides to a Premiership in both the AFL/VFL and the SANFL.

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