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Alastair Clarkson has been accused of having a “short memory” over his comments about Ben McKay’s trade request away from North Melbourne.
Last Friday, the key defender nominated Essendon as his preferred destination
As a restricted free agent, North Melbourne is able to match a contract bid but, speaking to SEN on Monday night, Clarkson expressed his frustration at the request after McKay’s extended time at the club.
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“We spent seven years building Ben up to be the player we thought he could be for the next seven and now he goes to the Bombers,” he said.
” … We just can’t lose him for a back-end first-round or second-round pick so we’ll see how that plays out but hopefully the compensation will be somewhere at the top.”
On Nine’s Footy Classified, The Age‘s Caroline Wilson and Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes took exception to Clarkson’s comments, highlighting his trade policy during his time at Hawthorn.
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From 2013-2021 during Clarkson’s tenure, Hawthorn traded in 18 players including Shaun Burgoyne, Josh Gibson, Brian Lake and James Frawley. The Hawks won a three-peat from 2013 to 2015.
“Once again it’s a short memory … they built the premierships by poaching players from other clubs,” Cornes said.
“He said (he was) frustrated they spent seven years there with McKay, look at those names (Burgoyne, Gibson etc) that came directly from other clubs that spent a lot of time there developing there to build that premiership dynasty under Alastair Clarkson.”
Reportedly, the Kangaroos could receive a first-round compensation pick for McKay – to go with the end of first round pick they’ll receive from the AFL’s assistance package.
