All aboard the Sammy train
Now taking passengers
People get ready, there's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith, to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.
Thank. The. Lord. It has finally happened.
One of the best (worst) kept secrets for years is now out in the open – Sam Mitchell will be taking over from Alastair Clarkson as the next coach of the Hawthorn Football Club.
It has been a whirlwind 24-hours in the Hawthorn coaching space, with Sammy officially pulling out of the running for the Collingwood coaching job, followed by an assumption in the media that it meant Mitch must have secured a guaranteed role – either at Hawthorn or outside of the Waverley Park walls.
Then on Tuesday thanks to the likes of Tommy Browne, Tommy Morris and Sam McClure, the word was circulated and then regurgitated that players had been advised of a succession plan involving Mitchell taking the reins.
Cue a Presidential member’s letter from none other than JGK on the front foot explain the decision, how the Board arrived at the decision, and where the club is heading on the back of it.
Cue the Hawthorn news article with carefully curated quotes from both Clarko and Sammy which did nothing more than buff and shine the news that was well and truly out in the public domain.
And cue the outrage from Hawks fans.
Interesting.
The loss of Clarko was going to come at some stage, and it is surprising that that the general Hawthorn public have not better prepared themselves for it – the writing has been on the wall for some time.
It was this line in Kennett’s letter that perhaps has caused the most angst:
After a long discussion at that Board meeting, we made two important decisions.
1. That we would not renew Alastair’s contract when it expired at the end of the football season in 2022, and
2. That we want him to complete his contract with us and coach the team in 2022.
We would not renew Alastair’s contract. This implies that Clarko possibly wanted it renewed, that he would be open to continuing, that it was not a decision made mutually. It implies that the Board acted on the front foot to effectively end Clarkson’s tenure at contract termination date.
And boy has it made some fans angry. Here is a taster:
Me, on the other hand, I am here for it. In a huge way.
Here is my point-by-point reasoning as to why:
Clarko is a genius. We have been blessed to have him, and his success for a long, long period of time – we will be forever indebted and thanks to him we have memories to cherish forever;
Forever indebted - the true GOAT. However… we are going through a full-scale rebuild with a huge list regeneration. Everything at the club is turning over fresh – the players, the CEO (in relative terms), the assistant coaching staff, the recruiting staff, and soon enough the President;
This was part of a plan – Sammy heads to West Coast to be a key member of the flag in a coaching role after playing there, comes back and has his own team, and is guided by the GOAT in the lead-in to the senior coaching role;
If we win another five-six games next year (thereby losing 16-17) and it goes onto Clarkson’s record, it gives Sam even more opportunity to pick, choose, blood who he likes at Box Hill level, and come in fresh in 2023 with a four to five-year window to cement his blueprint;
We have already heard so much of the Mitchell coaching philosophy, his orations via social media, seen his relationships with the players. He is young, fresh, relatable and hungry.
Hird, Voss, Buckley, blah blah blah. They all went straight into a senior coaching gig. Sammy has taken the path less travelled – making sure he is ready on his terms.
I accept that this is all part of the circle of life, and that this IS the best possible outcome for our club.
I accept that this has been part of an agreed way forward for some time.
I accept that Clarko is getting older, and that Sammy – from what we have seen, is going to be an incredible coach.
There are still unanswered questions. Will Clarko coach again? We know he could walk into a five-year, $8 million dollar coaching gig wherever he likes.
We also know he could probably get a role in the media akin to a Paul Roos or Garry Lyon and earn upwards of one million dollars per year.
He could probably also walk straight into a role at AFL House and be on good coin there too, let alone into a role at any major sporting organisation across the country.
What is clear is that money isn’t an issue – he has been and will continue to be well looked after in that regard. So now it will literally come down to what he wants to do.
And having been shown the door – similarly to the Luke Hodge’s, Grant Birchall’s and Sammy Mitchell’s in recent years – it is impossible to begrudge whatever decision he makes – regardless of whether or not he ends up coaching at another footy club.
He will need to answer the question though around what he wants to do, for if he does want to remain coaching, then Sammy may be fast-tracked into that senior position role a little earlier than expected.
But I for one am backing Sammy in. I am genuinely excited – this is the completion of the acceptance of this new regeneration that really, REALLY, only started when Tom Scully and Jon Patton followed Ricky Henderson, Ben Stratton, Poppy and James Frawley out the door.
When Tim Silvers left for Adelaide and Wrighty left for Collingwood.
We have known the Clarko move was coming for years, and have toyed with the emotions it brings – we don’t want Clarko to leave, we don’t want Sammy to go elsewhere, we don’t want to lose Jordan, we don’t want someone else to steal LeBron… we have been lucky enough to have our cake and eat it too.
Now it is time to take the plunge, to be nervous and excited all at the same time. Strap yourselves in. The Sammy Mitchell era is coming.
Andrew Weiss I don't know.who you or what you do but you are full of it! May be you should listen to 2 Hawthorn greats Leigh Matthews and Jason Dunstall and then make an informed decision. This is worst. decision made since the President, CEO and Board wanted to merge with Melbourne in 1996. Did you support that decision too? Thank God for Don Scott, Ian Dicker and the majority of supporters who voted that down. But nobody got a say in this decision.except egomaniac Kennett.