North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson admits his side likely wouldn’t be winless if they had better standards on the training track, with the club’s list build coming into the spotlight.
Through seven rounds of 2024, the Kangaroos are the only winless team in the AFL and have an average losing margin of over 52 points.
The club’s percentage is just 57.3.
The average North Melbourne player is under 24 years of age, making the Roos’ list clearly the competition’s youngest. But it’s come at the apparent cost of standards around the club.
Responding to a Herald Sun article regarding a lack of training standards at Arden Street, Clarkson acknowledged they weren’t up to scratch.
“The standards of our group are not at the level they need to be. That’s what we’re aspiring to do, that’s why we brought in new players, new coaches, to try and resurrect that,” he told a North Melbourne members’ Q&A.
“We embarked on this pathway of investing in youth, acknowledging that was going to come with some bumpy roads on that path and part of it will be lifting our standards.
“If we were training unbelievably well, I think that would be reflected in winning games of football on the weekend.
“It doesn’t surprise me one little bit that someone who came and observed training would say, ‘I don’t think the standards are good enough’, because that’s why we’re sitting in the position on the ladder that we are right now.
“Our challenge right now is how can we lift those standards.”
The four-time premiership coach is in his second season at North Melbourne after 17 years at Hawthorn. Clarkson went on to cement himself as the coach of the modern generation while wearing brown and gold, but won just 14 games in his first two seasons at the Hawks.
He’s won three in charge of the Kangaroos, but sees similarities between his situation now and previously at Hawthorn.
“When I first arrived at Hawthorn it was exactly the same thing,” he added.
“They needed to lift the standards, both in the way they prepared and the way they played the game. I can remember getting smashed on The Footy Show, ‘it doesn’t look like your team has got any idea, you look rudderless, no direction, what’s your DNA’, all exactly the same questions we’re getting now, we just need a bit of patience and some time to embed the things we’re doing and we’ll see some productivity.”
In a Round 7 loss to Adelaide, North Melbourne had only two players older than 26 on the park, and none over 30.
Clarkson’s men next come up against St Kilda under the Marvel Stadium roof on Saturday afternoon.
