Kennett claims he will stay on at Hawthorn despite Clarkson kerfuffle

Despite drawing the ire of a myriad of members for his supposed botching of the club's highly publicised succession plan, Hawthorn president and former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has claimed he isn't going anywhere.

Speaking to The Herald Sun as the dust settled from Alastair Clarkson's decision on Friday to depart the nest, Kennett stated that he would remain in his role until his contract expired at the end of the 2023 season.
“I will be concluding my term when it expires , I won’t be going any earlier and there is no way I can go on past [that time]," he said.

“That will see me out."

Across his two terms as the Hawks' head honcho, as well as when tasked with running his home state in the 90s, the 73-year-old has often been a lightening rod for criticism. Despite this, Kennett explained that it to came with the territory of the position.

“Leadership is not always about just popularity; leadership is about making the right decisions at the right time, and 18 years is a long time in one job," he said.

“You make the change and you move on.”

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Irrespective of the fact that the former Liberal party figurehead had already conceded that the succession plan had hit a snag, Kennett explosively asserted that any suggestions of unrest amongst the club's members were unfounded.

“There is absolutely no turmoil at the club and there is no turmoil among the members,” he said.

“Yes, there has been change, and perhaps in retrospect the master and apprentice [plan] didn’t work, but we adjusted and we keep on going.”

Kennett also reveled that he had personally returned emails to those that contacted the club following the announcement that Clarkson was set to severe ties with the Hawks after 17-seasons.

“I dealt with every email that came from members who were upset," he expounded.

"There were nine and I responded to each of those. A couple of them came back to me and I responded again, and by the end of the night, they started off very vitriolic, but all were in a totally different mood at the end.”

The two-term premier and president also lifted the lid on the machinations of the master coach's decision to vacate his role at year's end, divulging that a phone call on Tuesday night of last week had started the ball rolling.

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“I wanted him [Clarkson] to stay and finish his contract,” Kennett said.

“He came to the club on Tuesday night and said he has come to a decision, he wants to go in the interests of the club.

“That led to a discussion on Wednesday, then with his manager and it was finalised [on Friday].

“What has happened is right and it has worked out for the best. Yes, there has been a bit of a speed hump along the way, but that is all it is going to be in the history of time.”

Despite the fact that Clarkson disclosed on Friday that he would not be pursuing a coaching post next season, the incumbent president said he would not stand in the way of the four-time premiership coach changing his mind.

“He [Clarkson] can do whatever he likes,” Kennett said.

“He said to us that he wants a year off and needs a break, that’s what James Henderson said.

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“Whether he takes that or not, I don’t know.

“Whatever he does, we have arranged the affairs of the settlement that gives total flexibility.”

Kennett also suggested that although the circumstances of his attainment of the role were less than ideal optically, Sam Mitchell was the correct person to be leading the Hawks' ongoing rebuild.

“He [Mitchell] is absolutely ready, he is keen, he knows what he wants to do and he is hungry,” he said.

“By the time he takes over, Sam will be 39; when Clarko took over he was 36.

“We are not saying to our members we are going to be premiers in 2023, what we are saying is that from 2023 we will be really back in the hunt.”

Kennett rounded out his commentary by unequivocally expressing that there would always be a place for Clarkson at the Hawthorn Football Club.

“Clarko will always be respected for what he has done for this club, and hopefully he will take a role in the future,” he said.

“That might take him a while, a bit like John Kennedy, who came back after he went on to coach at another club.”