Alastair Clarkson hopes he is given the chance to lead North Melbourne to their next premiership, but says he will be content to ride off into the sunset if given the dreaded tap on the shoulder.

Clarkson is contracted until the end of 2027, but there are rumours bubbling he may not be afforded the chance to see out that deal.

North’s four-match losing run has left them at 8-11 and facing a huge battle to qualify for the AFL’s new wildcard round, especially given they finish their regular-season with tough games against Hawthorn, Western Bulldogs, Geelong and Sydney.

Clarkson was peppered with questions about his future during a 21-minute press conference on Thursday.

The four-time Hawthorn premiership coach made it clear he is keen to stay at the helm of North Melbourne, but said he had given “pretty much zero” thought to any contract extension talks at this stage.

Clarkson also said he hadn’t touched base with president Sonja Hood about his future.

“Am I going to be here when we finally salute? I’m not sure,” Clarkson said.

“There can be no guarantees of that. But my role right from the get go was just to help this club get back on its feet again and get upright, get stable, have good continuity.

“And at some at some point in time, like every coach, there’s going to be a time where you get a tap on the shoulder and they say, ‘we think someone else can do it a little bit better’ or ‘it’s time to move on’.

“I want this club to win silverware, and I’d love to be a part of that.

“But in terms of just hanging on just for dear life, just for the sake of it ... if I’m not the guy, I’ll just ride off into the sunset quite easily and be satisfied that I’ve had the privilege to be involved in this game for 40 years.”

Clarkson led North to three wins in 2023, three in 2024 and five last year.

Although North’s return of eight wins to date is more than respectable, the fact their finals drought is set to extend to 10 years is unpalatable for fans.

While in one sense Clarkson is seemingly at peace with his football mortality, he reeled off a series of examples of clubs achieving success after sticking tight with coaches under pressure.

He used the example of himself during his early days at Hawthorn, of Damien Hardwick at Richmond and now Gold Coast, of Matthew Nicks before Adelaide won last year’s minor premiership, of Chris Fagan before leading Brisbane to three grand finals and two flags.

“Those clubs ... hang in there and ride the bumps and the waves that go in this very, very chaotic game of ours,” Clarkson said.

“That’s the beauty of it.”