Hawthorn assistant coach Damien Hardwick has backed Hawks boss Alastair Clarkson to become the AFL's next long-term coach regardless of the result of Saturday's grand final clash against Geelong at the MCG.
Hardwick, a member of Essendon's 2000 premiership team and Port's maiden 2004 AFL flag success - when Clarkson served as an assistant coach to Mark Williams - said even if the Hawks went down on Saturday it would only make 40-year-old Clarkson more determined to succeed in future years.
The Hawks' forward coach believes Clarkson - who has taken the Hawks from 15th on the ladder when he was appointed at the end of 2004 to a grand final within just four years - is capable of having the type of reign at Hawthorn that Kevin Sheedy enjoyed at Essendon, where he was in charge at Windy Hill for 27 seasons from 1981-2007.
"From my point of view he is the next long-term coach (in the AFL)," Hardwick said of Clarkson as the Hawks conducted their final training session ahead of the grand final in front of a crowd of about 12,000 at Waverley Park on Thursday morning.
"I can see him doing this for 15-20 years, he is that driven."
"I just think he is the most driven individual I have ever met and he will do anything and everything to succeed."
Hardwick said Clarkson, who received a hero's welcome from the huge crowd on Thursday morning, had already begun thinking of ways to make the Hawks even better next season - regardless of how the club fares in its first premiership decider since 1991.
"He (Clarkson) is already planning a trip overseas regardless of whether we win or lose on the weekend because he is already looking for the next big thing in football (from overseas that can be used in the AFL)."
"He is thorough professional and he challenges us and makes us better people and coaches."
Hardwick said one of Clarkson's strengths was he did not chop and change the club's game plan.
"I think you have to coach the way you want, hoping that game style can get you through to a grand final and tactically I think if you change week in, week out it can cause unrest in the playing group and shows a bit of lack of faith in the players."
"But since day one (of pre-season training) in November we advanced a style of play (to the players) we thought