North Melbourne legend says Alastair Clarkson was never going to take Essendon’s ‘drug money’
North Melbourne hero Ron Joseph has piled in on Essendon after the Roos won the race for Alastair Clarkson, insisting there is no surprise that the supercoach snubbed the ‘spiritless’ AFL club’s ‘drug money’.
Clarkson finally ended the ‘circus’ surrounding his future on Friday by agreeing to join the AFL’s rock-bottom side, who are likely to be awarded the wooden spoon for the second season on the trot.
North outmuscled GWS Giants in a hotly contested two-horse race for Clarkson, before Essendon made a dramatic swoop for the four-time premiership winner this week.
Ron Joseph has taken a major swipe at Essendon after North landed Alastair Clarkson
However, the 54-year-old snubbed the Bombers – who still have Ben Rutten in post as the club’s coach – to round off an embarrassing week for the club.
And now Joseph has rubbed salt in the wound with outlandish claims about their AFL rivals, insisting that the decision was a no-brainer for North’s new coach.
‘Essendon never frightened me. I never thought Clarko would follow the drug money to Tullamarine,’ Joseph told the Herald Sun.
‘Why would you want Kevin Sheedy looking over your shoulder at that spiritless, windswept hole they abandoned the iconic Windy Hill for?’
The 54-year-old snubbed the Bombers in favour of the rock-bottom Roos on Friday
Joseph added that Clarkson is the perfect coach to oversee the club’s much-needed rebuild after years in the doldrums.
‘North Melbourne needs to draw a line in the sand and he’s the bloke to do it,’ he said.
‘I could never see him going to the Giants where he’d have to pack his bags and move to Greater Western Sydney – that’s about as spiritless as Essendon.
‘He knows the North Melbourne people and the North Melbourne people know him. The whole thing just makes so much sense.
Joseph claims Clarkson would never have taken Essendon’s ‘drug money’ to coach the club
‘North supporters have seen the steady disintegration of their club over the last decade and a half and today they will all be relieved. We are on the move again.’
With the Clarkson saga finally reaching its conclusion, Joseph says the club can now turn their attention to other matters of importance.
‘We still have to address some issues with the administration and the Tasmanian business is still hanging over our head,’ he added.
‘And Stevo (board member Anthony Stevens) and (Wayne) Carey have got to let the club move on. I’m sick of reading about them.
‘The club just needs a shake-up and Alastair Clarkson is the man to do it.’
