Alastair Clarkson could be headed to the Gold Coast Suns, with AFL boss Gillon McLachlan currently “working” on the four-time premiership winner, says Caroline Wilson.
Clarkson was heavily courted by Carlton for their vacant senior coaching role, but rejected two separate advances from the fallen Victorian giant, citing a desire to have a sabbatical in 2022.
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According to Wilson, McLachlan is attempting to sell Clarkson on the idea of coaching the Suns, in a bid to keep the AFL’s headache club afloat.
“I think Gillon McLachlan is working on Alastair Clarkson as we speak, and has been for some time to [coach] the Gold Coast,” Wilson told Nine’s Footy Classified.
“I think Stuart Dew will assume the [caretaker] role next year and by the way I think Wayne Campbell will come in pretty soon and take over the footy operations job at the Gold Coast.”
If Clarkson is unveiled as the Suns’ next coach for 2023 and beyond, his first big task could be to convince star forward Ben King to commit his future to the club.
King, whose twin brother Max plays for St Kilda, has constantly been linked with the Saints as well as Essendon, who will enter next summer armed with significant cap space and the need for a player in King’s position.
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Speculation surrounding the 21-year-old’s future up north was fuelled this week when he failed to finish in the top-10 in the club’s best and fairest award, despite leading the club with 47 goals.
Essendon great Matthew Lloyd, who is a mentor of King’s, believes the bizarre best and fairest snub could be one of the dominoes that eventually drives him to Victoria.
“He did everything that he possibly could, they’ll say it’s their system that hurt him,” he told Footy Classified.
“He might feel like, ‘Geez, did they really respect the effort that I put in this year?’.
“Big 12 months ahead for the Gold Coast Suns and I can’t see things changing too much with what we’ve seen this year as well. I’m really concerned about them.”
Lloyd’s sentiment was echoed by Footy Classified host Craig Hutchison, who called King’s omission from the top-10 “embarrassing” for the Suns.
“It’s absurd,” he said. “You’ve got to put some equity into this guy and convince him to stay by giving him even disproportionate votes. Most clubs would go the other way in that situation.”
“It’s embarrassing for them that he didn’t finish top-10 in their best and fairest when players like Nick Holman, no disrespect, great half-forward, finished ninth and clearly didn’t have the impact on the season that Ben King had.”