Abraham Jacobs
Citizen Journalist
Written on Thursday, 14 March 2013 07:06
Mark Evans received the tap on the shoulder on Wednesday morning and moves from the position of Hawthorn's general manager of football operations to become the grand poo-bah of all things football related at the AFL.
He'll be missed at Hawthorn. Always professional and always presentable, he was the calm face of the Hawks.
When Alastair Clarkson wanted to bust Matthew Lloyd's nose after the Essendon sniper...sorry, spearhead, busted Brad Sewell's jaw and knocked the Hawks out of the 2009 finals race, it was Evans who physically restrained the seething Hawthorn coach from getting too close and perhaps getting physical.
When Clarkson was punching holes in the MCG coaches box and interchange benches, it was Evans having a quiet word in the coach's ear and seemingly calming him down.
He was the yin to Clarkson's yang and together they achieved great things. Remember that Hawthorn was something of a joke when the pair came together at the end of 2004 and four years later, they were sipping champagne from the premiership cup.
The AFL is lucky to have him and from all reports, the clubs will be thrilled to have one of their own parachuted into AFL HQ.
But it leaves the Hawks with massive shoes to fill at a rather inconvenient time. The season is a fortnight away and a truckload of players, headlined by one L. Franklin are out of contract at the end of the season.
So who should replace Evans at Hawthorn?
The most logical replacement would be Jason Dunstall, the architect of the move to bring Clarkson and Evans to the club back in 2004, but it is inconceivable that Dunstall would walk away from his booming media commitments to become a full-time football administrator.
So how about Alastair Clarkson himself?
Clarkson is a devoted follower of the latest trends in world sport. He has visited regularly with leading sporting teams throughout Europe and the United States. He will have observed how some of the truly great sports clubs have one football figurehead.
Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, Bill Belichick at the New England Patriots and perhaps now Jim Harbaugh at the San Francisco 49ers. Their title might say 'manager' or 'coach' but really, they run the entire football operation.
Clarkson could fulfill the same role. There is nothing with respect to the football operations at Hawthorn that doesn't already carry his imprimatur.
So why not elevate Clarkson to the overall head of football, incorporating coaching and football management? We (the Hawks) have already lost assistants Damian Hardwick and Leon Cameron to senior coaching jobs at Richmond and Greater Western Sydney, so lets not lose a third. Make rising star Adam Simpson the first team coach, Brett Ratten his senior assistant and give them both increased levels of responsibility. Hire a lawyer to handle the nitty gritty of the contract negotiations, once Clarkson makes the call as to who stays and who goes.
Clarkson is entering his ninth season as senior coach and the end might be in sight. What better next challenge might there be than to pioneer this new, all-encompassing football role and to become the AFL version of Sir Alex and Belichick?
As long as he doesn't wear that god-awful hoodie like Belichick, few Hawthorn people would have an issue if the club moved in that direction.
http://www.backpagelead.com.au/afl/8803-hawks-should-appoint-king-clarkson
