Alastair Clarkson’s four-season tenure at North Melbourne is over, with the Kangaroos ending his contract a year early despite producing their best campaign under him in 2026.
Clarkson was contracted through 2027, but North Melbourne has decided to make a coaching change after another season outside the AFL finals. The timing stands out because the Kangaroos had shown clear improvement, winning nine games and finishing 14th on the ladder.
The former Hawthorn premiership coach leaves Arden Street after 82 matches in charge, with North recording 20 wins during his tenure. His departure ends a high-profile appointment that began with hopes of rebuilding one of the AFL’s struggling clubs and eventually returning it to September football.
A better season was not enough to save Clarkson
North Melbourne’s 2026 campaign was its strongest under Clarkson and its most successful since 2019. The side became more competitive across the season, but that improvement still did not deliver a finals berth.
That gap between progress and expectation is central to the decision. North has not played finals since 2016, meaning the club’s long wait for September football continued even as its win total improved.
ABC News reported that North Melbourne chose to end Clarkson’s tenure despite having the 2027 season remaining on his contract.
The rebuild Clarkson inherited at Arden Street
The win-loss record alone does not fully explain the scale of the job Clarkson accepted. North Melbourne finished second-last in 2020 before collecting consecutive wooden spoons in 2021 and 2022.
His task involved developing a young list, rebuilding confidence and restoring competitiveness rather than simply chasing an immediate finals appearance. The nine-win season in 2026 showed the team had moved well beyond the level Clarkson inherited.
The club’s recent history has also included difficult moments away from match results, including the tributes that followed the death of former Kangaroos player Phoenix Spicer, who played 12 AFL games for North Melbourne.
A premiership coach facing a very different challenge
Clarkson arrived with enormous credibility after guiding Hawthorn to four premierships. That record made his appointment one of North Melbourne’s biggest football decisions in years and naturally raised expectations around the rebuild.
But Arden Street presented a very different challenge from the successful Hawthorn years. North was starting near the bottom of the competition, and Clarkson never had a finals-ready side during his four seasons in charge.
His departure also comes during a period of major AFL list and career decisions, including Fremantle forward Sam Switkowski’s decision to retire at 29 despite remaining a regular senior player in 2026.
North Melbourne now faces a defining coaching decision
The next coach will inherit a stronger side than the one Clarkson took over, but that progress also brings greater expectations. North has spent several seasons building around younger talent, and nine wins in 2026 suggest the club is moving closer to becoming genuinely competitive.
The challenge now is turning that improvement into finals football. Whoever takes charge will be judged less on escaping the bottom of the ladder and more on whether North can finally convert its developing list into a top-eight side.
Clarkson therefore leaves at an unusual point in the rebuild: results had started to improve, but North Melbourne has decided the next phase of its climb will be led by someone else.
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