HAWTHORN coaching great Alastair Clarkson has selflessly deflected attention towards his 300th game in charge to the club's long-standing stability.
The Hawks have won four premierships from five Grand Final appearances during the 49-year-old's 13 seasons as senior coach. The 2013-15 flag three-peat made Hawthorn just the sixth team in VFL/AFL history to achieve the feat.
Clarkson also surpasses John 'Kanga' Kennedy snr's club-record of 299 matches coached after inheriting a team that won only four of 22 matches and finished second-last in 2004.
The Hawks were back playing finals by 2007, and won their first premiership under Clarkson a year later. He will look to guide them to a 187th triumph in his time at the helm against Fremantle at Domain Stadium on Saturday night.
"I'm enormously proud. We've been on a long journey as a footy club, and I think it's a reflection not so much of me coaching 300 games but the stability of our football club," Clarkson told reporters.
"That was the reason why 'Kanga' had the opportunity to coach our club for a long period of time, too, because there was great stability at board level and administration level and a talented playing group. We've been fortunate enough to be the same."
Kennedy snr rang Clarkson on Wednesday, and the two coaching legends have formed a close bond over the years, particularly since Kennedy's wife Dulcie passed away in April this year.
"His life's changed a fair bit and that's been unfortunate in some aspects, that his sole partner for so many years is no longer with him" Clarkson said.
"So that's been sad and life's a bit different for him now, so catching up with him from time to time is pretty special."
Hawthorn has blossomed on-field with Clarkson at the helm, but he said the club's re-emergence off the ground was the trigger.
The club has enjoyed a huge spike in membership, from 12,484 in 1996 – when members rejected a potential merger with Melbourne – to 27,005 in 1997, and now 72,552 at last count.
"A lot of work was done in the off-field area at the club to get us back financially viable again," Clarkson said.
"Included in that was obviously the link to Tasmania and playing some games down there and ultimately the sponsorship with the Tasmanian Government, which continues to this day.
"That's given us some stability as a club, but the on-field stuff didn't reflect that in the early times. It has in the last little while, and that's because the board and the football club were able to focus some energy into the on-field part of the footy club, because it's so important to your off-field fortunes as well.
"That direction and guidance from the board and the administration has been crucial in us having stability as a club."
