Which apparently has been flooded with supporters they’re thinking about auctioning the gear for charity.

would like to state that a coach doesn’t run a club. clarko wasn’t the leading decision maker in our club. so before you guys start blabbing on about how sonja should be gone, have a think about her contribution to this club after the abysmal state it was left in after buckley and amarfio.

p.s. if you value brain cells do not go to north facebook pages 😭

To lose 6 of your starting (3-4 best players including your captain) players and still have the coaches system stand up like that against the reigning premiers and win convincingly proves Clarkson had to go. Sydney outscored them in each quarter too. If we lost 5 of our middle of the road players we would get pumped by over 100 points each week whereas Sydney's bottom 5 stood up in a final because the coaches system gives them the best chance of succeeding. This difficult yet ruthless decision restores my faith in the board and for the first time in a long time I am optimistic about the positive direction of this club. They chose the harder path but it was the right choice.

Edit- Even if Sydney don't win the premiership Cox deserves coach of the year.

There is sometimes a short-term “bounce” in the very next game (about 40% win rate in recent mid-season changes, better than the team’s prior poor form that season).

However, this rarely turns into lasting improvement. Most clubs end up with similar or worse overall results the following season or under the permanent replacement. Research and results show frequent coaching changes usually fail to fix deeper list or structural problems.

North Melbourne is a clear example.

After Brad Scott left in 2019, David Noble was sacked in 2022, and Alastair Clarkson was sacked after 2026, the club has stayed near the bottom of the ladder for years. Multiple coaching changes produced no sustained lift in win-loss ratio or ladder position.

In short, changing the coach does not guarantee better results.

Cal Twomey suggests North should speak with Simon Goodwin. Would be an interesting choice...

This time in 12 months if there is no improvement the whole board has to go

Collection slowly growing. Fingers crossed a premiership year one coming over the next few or more years #3

North Melbourne

FB: Archer / Logue / McDonald
HB: Parker / Comben / McKercher
MID: Stephens / LDU / Simpkin
FOL: Xerri / Sheezel / Wardlaw
HF: Zurhaar / Larkey / O’Sullivan
FF: Curtis / Trembath / Dovaston
INT: Darling / Hardeman / Spargo / Daniel / Goater

Carlton

FB: Hollands / Weitering / Cowan
HB: Haynes / Dean / Florent
MID: Cerra / Smith / Acres
FOL: Pittonet / Cripps / Walsh
HF: Kemp / McGovern / Ainsworth
FF: Evans / McKay / Hayward
INT: Young / Newman / Derksen / Hewett / Byrne

Carlton made the elimination final. Blues fans would be thinking a step further next year.

If you compare the best 22 for each team, I think we stack up pretty well talent wise. Overall I’d say we have more talent, but their top end talent like McKay, Weitering, Cripps is great. Walsh, Dean and Smith great young players. I’d also say there is an absolute chasm in difference in defence. Weitering and Dean would make a monumental difference.

As a copium thought experiment… could North hiring a new coach result in a win explosion like what Carlton saw under Fraser? It seems like the only thing Fraser really did was not be Voss and open up the risk taking a bit. Clearly there’s more to it, but could North have seen Carlton’s recent success and thought a similar change would be that next step they were talking about in the press conference?

Or am I delusional and Carlton’s list talent is just much better?

SEN has compiled a list of potential candidates for the role, noting former senior coaches and highly regarded assistants that have been in the running for a number of vacancies in previous years.

See the potential candidates below:

John Longmire

A North Melbourne premiership player, Coleman Medallist and All-Australian turned legendary coach.

Won a premiership with the Swans in 2012, guiding Sydney to five Grand Finals, while making finals 12 of his 14 seasons in charge.

Will certainly sit atop the pecking order.

Adam Simpson

A two-time premiership player at North Melbourne, Simpson played over 300 games for the Roos, captaining the club for four seasons and claiming a best and fairest award in 2002.

Simpson guided the West Coast Eagles to a premiership in 2018 after reaching his first Grand Final in 2015.

Nathan Buckley

Head coach of the Magpies from 2012 to 2021, guiding the club to a Grand Final in 2018 and five finals campaigns in 10 seasons.

Stepped back into assistant coaching with Geelong in 2026, eyeing off the Tasmania job that ultimately went to Ken Hinkley.

Murray Davis

Adelaide assistant coach, Davis was in the running for both the Carlton and Essendon jobs.

Was one of the four contenders for the Bombers gig before Mark McVeigh’s appointment.

Jaymie Graham

A highly rated assistant playing a major role in Fremantle’s charge this season.

Heavily considered for both vacancies in Melbourne this season, Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir continues to endorse Graham as a ready-made head coach.

Daniel Giansiracusa

Another of the serious contenders for the Carlton job, the Hawthorn Head of Development is bound for senior coaching in the coming years.

Won the 2020 AFLCA Assistant Coach of the Year award at the Western Bulldogs, one year after Craig McRae.

Also spent five season as a line coach at Essendon from 2021-2025.

Dean Solomon

Essendon assistant and stand-in head coach for the 2026 season.

Didn’t quite nail his audition with the Dons, however, remains a highly regarded assistant with senior coaching ambitions.

James Kelly

A Geelong legend and Geelong assistant, Kelly ruled himself out of the running for the Essendon job in pursuit of the Blues gig, ultimately beaten out by Josh Fraser.

Was also a part of the Demons’ six-man shortlist, beaten out by Steven King.

Corey Enright

Touted as next-in-line to Ross Lyon at St Kilda, the former Geelong star and Saints assistant will lead a club in the coming years.

Was heavily considered for all of Carlton, Essendon and Melbourne roles.

James Rahilly

Another highly rated Geelong assistant. Has vocalised his eagerness to coach at the senior level, having received the 2023 AFLCA Assistant Coach of the Year award.

Brendon Lade

Midfield coach at the Western Bulldogs, Lade has held assistant roles with port Adelaide, Richmond and St Kilda previously.

Was in the running for the Dons job in 2022 and was one of the six-man shortlist for the Melbourne job in 2025. Met with the Blues in 2026 after being endorsed by Dogs head coach Luke Beveridge.

Hayden Skipworth

Collingwood assistant coach who was heavily considered for both Melbourne and Essendon.

Has been at the Magpies as an assistant since 2020.

James Hird

A long shot – the former Bombers head coach was desperate for the vacant Essendon job, beaten out by Mark McVeigh.

His desire to step back into head coaching is clear, however, hasn’t held a role at AFL level since his assistant days with GWS in 2023.

Firstly, Horse is obviously a North legend and as coach of Sydney the record and performance is very good (losing grand finals aside).

Im curious to know how much of that success people think he inherited vs how much he helped build? Roos obviously laid a great foundation and built a strong culture, the coaching succession plan was incredibly smooth and professional.

He can obviously hold the wheel and maintain standards as a coach, no question and that’s a skill set in of itself, but as a few people in the main thread noted, that’s a very different proposition than taking a low/under performing team and making it a finals contender like Sam Mitchell has done at Hawthorn.

Thanks to Clarko for stabilising the club over the last 4 years , most young players have re signed on long term deals , all the best Clarko for the future

I’ve been thinking a lot about the coaching situation — and, in fact, the way the whole club and football department has been run down at Arden Street — particularly over the last two seasons.

If you look purely at the club’s form over those two seasons, you can make a case for marked improvement: 3.5 more wins and around 10% better percentage. But context matters. Last season was insipid, with just 5.5 wins and a percentage well below 80. And there is no doubt we had a soft draw, particularly given the easy start to the year.

So you have to look at some of the disappointing performances the Kangaroos have produced this season to get the real picture.

Fremantle — another 100-point loss — and Adelaide both hammered us, conceding 19 consecutive goals against Fremantle and 13 against Adelaide.

Then there were the two Geelong games. In the first, we went from being a goal up in time-on in the third quarter to being blown away, conceding 14 goals to five. In the second, we blew a great start, allowing Geelong to kick seven goals in 20 minutes.

We gave up a good start against Melbourne as well. We surrendered a two-goal lead late against Collingwood. We were within a point of Port Adelaide at three-quarter time and managed only one further behind.

We just beat Voss’ Carlton and narrowly beat a woeful Essendon twice. The worst game of the 2026 season was arguably the less-than-convincing, ugly 25-point win over Richmond, having beaten them by 85 points only nine rounds earlier.

And then we finished the season with that non-competitive performance against a depleted Sydney. Surely, that performance sealed Clarkson’s fate.

But the most disappointing performance of the year for me was the loss to St Kilda. It exposed so many of North’s problems, and it was after that game that I finally became resigned to the fact that the rebuild was failing — and so was Clarkson.

We lost that game in the midfield, and we lost it for two reasons.

First, we were smashed at the clearances, particularly centre clearances. With Rowan Marshall a late withdrawal before the game, the fact that we were still dominated in that area was extremely disappointing.

Second, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera — who had struggled against a hard tag all year — was allowed to run around unchecked through the midfield and rack up 46 disposals and four goals.

I had made up my mind after that game.

Yes, Xerri has struggled since the introduction of the new ruck rule, and that has undoubtedly impacted our centre-clearance work. But it also exposed the fact that too many of our other midfielders are either not where they should be in their development or simply aren’t producing at the level required.

There is poor decision-making. Sloppy disposal. A lack of composure.

For a side supposedly built around its midfield, that is a real indictment.

We all know the backline lacks quality and composure. If we lack quality defenders, that speaks to the selections made while prioritising the midfield, as well as the development of the players and the game plan.

The amount of supply we allow the opposition to generate puts our defenders under enormous pressure. They struggle, and that speaks directly to how well the game plan stands up — and how effectively it is being implemented.

Then there is the forward line, which once looked like it had genuine quality but now appears increasingly weak.

Again, midfield supply is critical. Our midfield can burn a forward, but too often we don’t hurt the opposition when we have the ball. Worse still, we allow the opposition to rebound straight back out of our forward line far too easily.

Leadership is another major question.

Both on and off the field.

Last year, Simpkin, as captain, wanted out. Larkey, the current captain, has been the biggest disappointment for me. He spends far too much time looking for free kicks or sulking rather than competing. It is hardly inspirational leadership.

Jack Darling, at 34, has been harder at the contest and has set a far better example.

Darling was recruited to supposedly make Larkey’s job easier. Instead, he has often looked like the player carrying the greater responsibility.

I will say this, though: the recruitment of Darling, Parker and Daniel gets a big tick. They bring leadership and experience. Thank God for those three senior recruits, because without them we would be in absolutely dire straits.

The fundamental problem is this: unless our midfield is dominating the centre, winning clearances and contributing goals, we cannot win.

If the midfield merely breaks even, we simply aren’t good enough.

And when we are beaten in the centre, we are incredibly easy to score against and even easier to shut down offensively.

The reality is that we finish this season level with Port Adelaide and ahead of Richmond, Essendon and West Coast.

Bottom four.

After four seasons under this regime, that is not where anyone thought — or hoped — this club would be.

There are no excuses anymore.

The age profile and games played of this list have matured. There has been plenty of time. This group is well behind where it should be.

Clarkson

When assessing Alistair Clarkson’s coaching performance, there is no doubt he was a great coach.

In 17 seasons at Hawthorn, they made the finals 10 times, reached five Grand Finals and won four premierships. The first of those premierships came in his fourth season.

But that is also where the argument needs some context.

Hawthorn missed the finals in four of Clarkson’s last five seasons, including his final three. North even ended our 15-game losing streak against Hawthorn with our first win under David Noble in Clarkson’s final year there.

We haven’t beaten Hawthorn since. In the five seasons under Sam Mitchell, they have gone on to play finals, including a preliminary final.

You also have to cast your mind back to some of the unrest around Clarkson’s departure from Hawthorn, particularly Mitchell’s concerns about the direction of the football department.

At the time North appointed Clarkson, people who knew him well — including Luke Hodge — warned about the amount of power Clarkson had wielded in his final handful of seasons at Hawthorn and the dangers that could come with that.

Hodge spoke about Clarkson needing the right people around him — strong people who could challenge him.

That was one of my concerns when North appointed Clarkson on such a large contract. It meant there was potentially less money available for development coaches and highly credentialled assistants.

And perhaps the uncomfortable reality is that Clarkson’s success at Hawthorn may have had as much, or even more, to do with the people around him and the four walls surrounding the football department than Clarkson’s brilliance alone.

That is not to say Clarkson wasn’t brilliant. He absolutely was.

He was also the right appointment for North at the time.

His appointment gave the club relevance and, most importantly, hope. It bought the club time that a new coach without Clarkson’s profile probably wouldn’t have received before the pressure arrived.

But eventually, that pressure was always going to come.

Last season made that inevitable, and most coaches probably would have been sacked after producing that result.

This season was always going to be a referendum on Clarkson’s ability to continue coaching at the highest level.

Could it be that the game has gone past him?

Could it be that he no longer has the passion, energy and connection he once had?

Or could it be that the people around him — the four walls of the football department — were the bigger problem?

Perhaps it was a combination of all three.

But ultimately, he failed the referendum.

After four seasons, even allowing for the disruption of one of them, Clarkson had enough time to influence and develop the people around him. He had enough time to implement his game style. Most importantly, he had enough time to change and build the culture of the football club.

We finished 14th.

The decision

North could have continued with Clarkson for another season and made the call later.

Maybe we could have snuck into a wildcard position. Maybe we would have pushed the decision out another couple of years, eventually giving Clarkson a seven-year tenure before it finally ended and another full rebuild was required.

Honestly, that is what I thought would happen.

But it didn’t.

And in making the decision now, North showed a boldness and ruthlessness that has been sorely lacking.

We haven’t had a winning season in 10 years.

I can’t remember the last time we beat Geelong or Sydney.

In the 101 seasons of VFL/AFL football, North Melbourne has been beaten by 100 points or more 27 times. Thirteen of those have come since we last played in a Grand Final in 1999. Six have come in the last six years.

Only three clubs have failed to play in a Grand Final this century: Carlton, Gold Coast and North Melbourne.

That is the reality of where we are.

We cannot afford to continue down the current path of mediocrity.

For me, the St Kilda loss made it clear that we were not going to get there with Clarkson at the helm.

So the decision was made.

You can question whether the timing was right. Perhaps the call could have been made weeks earlier. What effect the timing has on players who may want to come, stay or leave remains to be seen.

And there is another question that will ultimately determine whether this decision was the right one:

Did we choose the right replacement?

Do they have the right people around them?

Because that is the lesson I keep coming back to.

The problem has not simply been one coach.

The problem has been the four walls around the football club.

For too long, the club has accepted mediocrity. For too long, it has been pushed around. For too long, there has been a willingness to accept where we are rather than demand where we should be.

Changing the coach alone may not change the place.

It may not change the culture.

It may not change the expectations.

But it is a start.

And when you are fighting for survival — let alone relevance in a competition that is stacked against you — sometimes the most important thing is simply having the courage to finally say:

This is no longer good enough.

Reported by Tom Morris on agenda setters. Interesting that it seems to be a 50-50 split of opinion with many saying it was brutally and refreshingly honest while others say certain comments could have been left out and handled with a little more grace. I can see why Clarko would feel like he was being kicked while being down with some of the stuff that was said. They essentially called him out of touch and a control freak.

I think that breakup at his house was a lot messier than what we'll ever know.