How do you believe the AFL competition and the game generally are holding up?

Clarkson: It's an exciting game and I reckon the AFL is in really good nick at the minute. Attendances are up and there is a real opportunity that I'm sure Hawthorn is going to capitalise on.

There has been greater significant financial strength than at any other time in the AFL. From that point of view, Hawthorn is really keen on developing a foothold and a secondary market in Tasmania, as well as our core market here in Victoria.

We want to put ourselves on a footing that allows us to always play our home games in Melbourne and maintain that as our predominant home base. But a secondary market in Tasmania is critical to our ongoing viability as a football club. We believe the emergence of the Tasmanian community as a secondary market will give us the opportunity to elevate ourselves into the professionalism that some of the interstate clubs have in terms of resources and membership base.

So they're significant off-field projections the club has. With the strength of the competition and the way the game is moving forward, we feel we're well placed to move with the competition as it trends upwards.

How are you dealing with the scrutiny on yourself, your assistant coaches, the players and the club?

Clarkson: It's a demanding, brutal game, and that's what goes with the territory. If you enjoy the spoils of greater professionalism and more money that comes into the game, then you've got to expect that there is going to be significantly more scrutiny and pressure placed upon individuals. They are given iconic status throughout the football community. But as the game elevates in popularity, so too does the status of these players and the scrutiny is going to be even greater. We're still coming to terms with that as clubs, coaches and players, because the game has changed and evolved so much in the past five to 10 years – probably even more so in the past three or four years.

You've got to put in pretty strong values across your footy club, stretching from the top level of your board, right through to the youngest players on your list. When those strong values are indoctrinated across the whole club, it puts you in a really good position to be able to cope with the increased stresses that come with greater scrutiny resulting from the popularity of the game.

How are you coping with the demands of the senior coaching gig now that you're in your third season?

Clarkson: I'm really enjoying it. As a club and coaching group, we were pretty firm in our resolve that we needed to rebuild the club from the ground up. Jeff Kennett and Ian Robson have achieved some pretty significant things, together with the previous board under the guidance of Ian Dicker.

Ian Dicker oversaw the plan to move to Waverley and the foray into Tasmania initially. Jeff and Ian Robson have then been able to take those plans and put them into place in the past 12 months or two years. I've certainly had a plan over the past two-and-a-bit years to draft and trade aggressively, so we've put in place some really good programs.

We know that at some point in time, this club is going to begin to challenge, once more, as a consistent finals contender and ultimately our goal is to obviously secure our 10th premiership. So as a coaching group, we're very strong in our resolve that that's our plan. It's been really enjoyable to get our hands dirty and get really involved in a young group. They've got a great attitude and a real hunger to come together as a group and win the next flag for Hawthorn. But it's a long, hard journey, there are challenges along the way and we've got a long, long way to go.

Speaking of Jeff Kennett, how have you found him as a president and for you personally?

Clarkson: In my time here, both Jeff and Ian have been tremendous leaders of our football club. Ian at a time when the financial stability of the club was questionable and the ongoing viability of our club in the competition needed some pretty serious scrutiny. Ian was not only able to provide stability but also put in place some tremendous plans for the next 10 years, in terms of where the club should position itself for the future. Jeff, to his credit, has been able to come in and materialise those plans and the projection for us moving ahead means we have some tremendous plans for the club. We're delighted the stability has been as good as it has been for a long, long time.

What do you do to get away from football? What are your priorities outside the game?

Clarkson: Family, footy and friends are pretty much the order of priority. That's probably the biggest sacrifice you make as a coach, your social life and your friendships. You don't get to sustain those friendships on a regular basis as much as you'd like but I've got a tremendously supportive wife and three terrific young kids and that's my life at the present time. I love playing golf, fishing and yabbying but I don't get enough time to do them now. But if I could have a choice of what I'd love to be doing, it's what I'm doing right now and that's being involved in an AFL club and trying to help young guys achieve what many think would be the impossible dream and that's playing in a premiership. To have the support of a tremendous young family is just terrific and there could be no better job in the world from my point of view.