“I’m really happy to be staying. I’ve loved every minute of my time at the Swans and I’m excited for what’s ahead,” Warner said in a statement.

“From the moment I arrived six years ago all the people – the players, coaches, and staff – have embraced me and helped me feel at home.

“I have great belief in the direction we are heading and know we have exciting times to come.”

Clarkson in for long haul at North

Alastair Clarkson has shrugged off any suggestion he has lost his ruthless edge and insists he’s in for the long haul as North Melbourne coach.

North (1-5) have lost their past four games by an average of almost 59 points.

It has prompted criticism of the four-time premiership coach who was asked on Thursday whether he was as ruthless as he had been at Hawthorn.

“I wouldn’t come back into the job if I didn’t want to take on a challenge,” he said.

“There were other opportunities to maybe take on easier challenges in terms of trying to take a club into the eight a little bit quicker, or some teams were already in the eight.

“But part of the challenge of why I took it on, and others wanted to jump on board too, was just where the club was positioned at the time.

“And how exciting is it to actually take a club that is in significant adversity and try and bring them back up to the top of the ladder?

“At the minute, it looks like, well, we’re not making a lot of progress.

“But as long as the club stays together to stay stable, it’s going to turn.”

Alastair Clarkson. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Clarkson, in his third season, pointed out Melbourne and Brisbane had years down the bottom before success.

“I wish I had the crystal ball to be able to look into … and say ‘this is the day that it’s going to happen for this footy club’,” he said. 

“But all I can tell you is that day is getting closer. It’s not getting further away.

“And we’ll continue to back ourselves in until such time as the evaporation of time is just too great a period of time where they say ‘Clarko, I don’t think you’re the bloke anymore’. 

“But for as long as I’ve still got the passion inside me to try to drive this club back to where I think you can get to, I’m in for the long haul.”

Clarkson said there was still room to spray players when required – but it wasn’t necessarily the right approach.

“There’s a time where there’s a tough love, and there’s also a time where you need to just wrap your arms around them,” he said.

“And some of that, to be fair, is with our players – it needs probably more wrap an arm around them, rather than giving them a cook. 

“This footy club, for various reasons, has been in the doldrums for a fair period of time – so to keep whacking them, that’s not helping us go forward. 

“So I know the outside world might want to bring back the bash and crash in terms of the verbal sprays and that sort of stuff. 

“But you’ve just got to understand the environment.”

The Kangaroos face Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday, which will mark Luke Parker’s 300th AFL game.

Fagan demands defensive improvement

The Brisbane Lions have been issued a gentle reminder from Chris Fagan after the coach noticed a “trend” that’s punched a hole in their usually water-tight AFL defence.

The premiers travel to Marvel Stadium to face St Kilda on Saturday with a 5-1 record and, on the surface, in terrific shape.

But Fagan wasn’t impressed with what he saw at the Gabba last Thursday in a blowout loss to Collingwood.

They conceded 105 points after letting in 97 and 90 in victories in the previous two games.

The 97-point average spanning those three weeks is a huge outlier to the 76 conceded on average during their 2024 campaign.

“Reflected a lot on it, mainly because the last three weeks we have been poor defensively,” Fagan said on Thursday of the Magpies loss.

“Team defence has been a huge focus this week; I feel like that’s dropped away and it’s the first thing that drops away when either attitude or energy’s not right.”

“I’ve seen a trend, so we’ve talked about that.”

Team defence is a catch-all term that includes off-the-ball running, effort to locate opponents, contested work and tackles.

“There’s a lot of elements to it … we watch that more than we watch anything else,” Fagan said.

“I don’t think it’s attitude, it’s something we’re monitoring.

“It’s one of those things you just have to give your group a reminder about every now and then.”

The coach also shot down suggestions that the club had spoken to Jamarra Ugle-Hagan about a move from the Bulldogs, where his future remains unclear.

“I think people speculate on those sorts of things,” Fagan said.

“They go, ‘Oh, Joey Daniher left, the Lions are in the market for a tall forward’.

“I don’t know anyone at our club that’s spoken to Jamarra and his management.

“Sometimes in the past we’ve seen players move from one state to another state and it’s been good for them, but I don’t really know his story.”

(Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

The coach also revealed Adelaide recruit Tom Doedee, who has played two VFL games since returning from a third knee reconstruction, was yet to declare himself ready for an AFL return.

“He’s not at that point yet … two years out of the game, trying to build his confidence in his body,” Fagan said of the defender, whose last AFL game was in June 2023.

“Once he gets some continuity he’ll come and tell me when he’s ready.”

Even then it won’t be a walk-up start for the former Crow, with Harris Andrews, Jack Payne and Ryan Lester locking down the key defensive posts.

“I reckon last year he would have been but it’s two years since he played,” Fagan said.

The coach also said fellow defender Keidean Coleman, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the first round of last season, would likely return in the VFL next week.