Australian cricket great Ricky Ponting has backed North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson to start at the club in the coming days, despite the controversy surrounding historic racism allegations.
Clarkson was announced as the incoming Kangaroos coach in August, and was preparing for a November start date before the AFL was rocked by damning allegations dating back to the coach’s reign at Hawthorn.
As a result, Clarkson took time away from the club with his return to the game after a one-year coaching hiatus yet to be officially locked in.
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Ponting, a North Melbourne fan who helped the club land Clarkson, said he was confident the coach would start as planned despite the recent ordeal.
“I think any North Melbourne fan is keen to see him start,” he told Nine News.
“What’s happened in the last couple of weeks has obviously been really hard for him and (Brisbane coach) Chris Fagan (who is also on a leave of absence) and respective footy clubs to deal with, no doubt.”
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Ponting said while he hadn’t spoken to Clarkson in recent days, he expected the coach to make the Kangaroos a “happier place” when he did begin.
“I haven’t spoken to Alastair the last probably week and a half, two weeks, just to give him a bit of air and try to stay away,” he said.
“But it sounds like he’s going to be right to start when he was supposed to on November 2.
“The sooner that North Melbourne fans and players and admin can get Alastair Clarkson back inside the walls again, I’m sure it’s going to be a happier place.”
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Clarkson, Fagan and others caught up in the historic allegations have strenuously denied the claims made in an ABC report last month.
But both Clarkson and Fagan were absent during their clubs’ respective trade periods after stepping away from the game.
The AFL announced in early October it had appointed a four-person panel to investigate the allegations of racism, with a report expected in December.
Senior lawyer Bernard Quinn KC will lead the investigation, joined by barristers Jacqualyn Turfrey, Tim Goodwin and Julie Buxton.
