Four-time premiership-winning coach Alastair Clarkson will take a sabbatical in 2022, rejecting overtures from multiple clubs.
Clarkson’s manager, James Henderson, confirmed the former Hawthorn mentor had been approached to coach next year, but decided instead to take a year off.
“He is fully committed to taking the year off to spend time with his family and to undertake further study and personal development opportunities,” Henderson said in a statement.
“He had received approaches from some AFL clubs this week but had not advanced any of those discussions.”
Where Clarkson may have ended up wasn’t revealed, although Collingwood need a replacement for Nathan Buckley, while David Teague’s tenure at Carlton is shaky at best.
The situation at the Blues has descended into farce, with AFL legend Leigh Matthews advising Teague to “wait to be sacked.”
“You wonder who’s running the footy club at Carlton,” Matthews told 3AW.
“I must say, from the outside, whoever’s running that football club has got no idea how to run a football club.”
All reports pointed to Teague being axed in the event Clarkson wanted the job.
The future of the former Hawks coach has been the talk of the AFL, since he left Hawthorn after 17 seasons.
Clarkson was originally due to coach Hawthorn in 2022, before handing over to Sam Mitchell, but brought forward his exit by 12 months.
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