In the aftermath of the Alastair Clarkson bombshell sacking, it has emerged that the 58-year-old recently made a tone deaf and inappropriate comment in front of AFLW players.

The incident occurred during Round 24 when North Melbourne’s men’s team travelled to Sydney and stayed in the same hotel as the Essendon AFLW team.

According to a report on SEN, Clarkson made the comment in front of the AFLW players while they were sharing a lift. It referenced the Sydney Swans and the sexual assault allegations.

While in the elevator, Clarkson allegedly said something like: “Keep your hands up, boys.”

It has been reported that the poor attempt at humour was not received well by the players and Clarkson apologised at the time.

But North Melbourne also formally apologised to Essendon for the clearly inappropriate comment.

The incident is part of what is a long list of gaffes and errors made by the four-time premiership coach during his time in the game.

“This is the worst of Alastair Clarkson, and some of these errors that he’s made are not overly serious. Some of them are very serious, like that one,” Tom Morris said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.

“And it’s a long rap sheet. He’s been in the game for a long time. And this undoubtedly wore thin with North Melbourne, as it wore thin with Hawthorn.” 

Clarkson’s rap sheet goes way back to 2006 when he approached umpires on a flight back from Perth.

More recently, in 2023, he told a Channel 9 female journalist her “time will come” when she was asking questions about disgraced former player Tarryn Thomas.

In 2024 during a pre-season game he called St Kilda player Jimmy Webster a “c***sucker” and was fined $20,000 and suspended for two games.

A few months later, he was forced to coach from the coaches’ box after he was heard using offensive language on the boundary line during a game.

And in 2017 he issued an apology for saying the umpires were disgraceful, and he also apologised to Wayne Carey following Carey’s (accurate) comments about Cyril Rioli being homesick and wanting to quit football.

Those incidents, plus more, obviously do not include the racism investigation which took a heavy toll on Clarkson’s mental health, despite the fact he was ultimately cleared.

Despite the controversies, Clarkson’s coaching legacy will remain (largely) intact as an AFL mastermind who won four premierships with Hawthorn across 472 games.

“In every genius, there are flaws. And Alastair Clarkson, it cannot be argued, is a genius coach,” Morris said.

In his statement following the sacking, Clarkson alluded to the fact it was time for something else, marking the end of one of the all-time great coaching chapters in AFL history.