Nick Riewoldt says Saints should call Alastair Clarkson, despite Brett Ratten’s impressive 8-3 start

St Kilda icon Nick Riewoldt has made the puzzling call that his former club should sound out supercoach Alastair Clarkson, while also endorsing current coach Brett Ratten for the job.

Ratten appears certain to be the long-term coach at Moorabbin after leading the Saints to an 8-3 start to the AFL season with a potential finals appearance in sight.

However, with Clarkson likely to return to coaching duties in 2023, Riewoldt said it was imperative every club – including St Kilda – sounded out the four-time premiership-winning coach before making any decisions about next season. 

‘You‘d make the call to gauge interest for a start,’ he said on AFL 360.

‘I think you’d be derelict in your duty if you didn’t make the call. If Alastair Clarkson was busting to get to your football club, then I think you’d make the phone call.’

St Kilda has defied predictions in 2022 to sit just outside of the AFL top four with an impressive 8-3 start to their campaign after crashing out of the finals in 2021

However, two-time premiership winner David King lashed Riewoldt for his suggestion, suggesting a phone call to Clarkson could rip at the threads of what Ratten has built. 

‘At what point are you happy? You have to create an environment and a culture and if someone’s achieving what you want them to, you endorse them?’ he said.

‘I‘d be extremely disappointed if I was Brett Ratten and had done what I’ve done this year and someone picked up the phone and rang Alastair Clarkson.

‘If I was Brett, I‘d be livid with them making that phone call.

‘I think you‘re happy with what you’re seeing. You’ve set up a really good foundation.

‘They talked about this [rebounding] last year and we laughed. Halfway through last year, [St Kilda president] Andrew Bassat sent a letter to the members apologising for their plight and look where they are now.

‘We have to trust that what they’ve done has set them up for good opportunity going forward.’

Ratten has been a key part of the St Kilda revival and has built a strong culture at the club that is likely to see him extended for another three seasons

Riewoldt did endorse Ratten for a contract extension, emphasising that all AFL clubs should consider phoning Clarkson to gauge his interest.

‘What stands out this year, it’s the combination of the game style that is really standing up and then you combine that with the intangibles,’ he said.

‘The embracing of roles, accountability at the selection table, so a player that has been a mainstay like Jack Billings goes out, then [Dan] Butler goes out, so they are not afraid to make those hard calls.

‘There is a spirit and a selflessness now amongst this group and a resilience as well that hasn’t been there in previous years.

‘I think Brett Ratten is doing a great job, they’re rolling at the moment,’

St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt has backed Ratten, but said every AFL club should at least call Clarkson to find out what his intentions are for next season

 King said the Saints were ‘bulletproof’ and has them in the second tier of premiership favourites for 2022.

‘I think defensively, this is the best I’ve seen them. They’re almost bulletproof,’ he said.

‘Once they lose control of the game or control of the footy they’ve got the best two half-back flankers in the comp in my opinion, or certainly the best pairing in [Jack] Sinclair and [Brad] Hill.

‘They’ve got the wildcard full forward [in Max King] that can … in a 10 minute window, just about put a game to bed. Not many teams have got that luxury.

Bassat told SEN this week that contract negotiations to keep Ratten at the club long-term were already underway.

‘We’ve always said that Brett Ratten will be our long-term coach and be the coach that hopefully takes us to our long-awaited second flag,’ Bassat said.

‘We hope he’s there long-term but what the actual contract term is, I’ll leave that to others.

‘We’re really confident Brett knows where he stands and we’re in a good spot.’