The old mate Clarko is leaning on through Roos rebuild

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has moved quickly to defend his winless Kangaroos after their 70-point drubbing at the hands of Brisbane on Friday night.

Clarkson’s men handed the Lions their first win of the year in heartbreaking fashion.

However, he has likened the struggling Roos to the once-luckless Lions, who have become a recent powerhouse of the league, going deep into the finals for the last five seasons, including a grand final appearance in 2023.

“Probably seven years ago, when Fages (Lions coach Chris Fagan) got there, they were in exactly the same position as us (now),” Clarkson said post match on Friday night.

“We just know we have to put in the time and the hard yards. Not lose faith.”

After their back-to-back-to-back flags between 2001-2003, the Lions remained firmly in the bottom half of the ladder until coach Chris Fagan landed at the club in 2017, taking them to finals appearances every year since 2019.

Clarkson, who worked with Fagan during their successful coaching tenure at Hawthorn, says he is using his old assistant coach as inspiration to pull North Melbourne up from the bootm of the table.

“I’ve tracked their (Brisbane’s) journey really closely because of Fages and the job he’s done there,” Clarkson said.