Clarkson is contracted to North Melbourne through to the end of 2027, with next season to be his fifth year in charge.
Despite North showing demonstrable improvement in 2025 and 2026 under his stewardship, there has been mixed opinion on whether Clarkson has done enough in a four-year period to warrant a contract extension from a club that will soon complete a tenth consecutive season without finals qualification - the club's longest drought since 15 straight seasons between 1959 and 1973.
Clarkson has won just 19 of his 79 games in charge of the Kangaroos, but eight of them have come in 2026, by far their best return since ten in the 2019 campaign.
The Kangaroos began this season with the fourth-youngest squad by average age, with 26 members of their AFL list having started 2026 with fewer than 50 games of experience.
On that metric alone, 2026 has probably been a successful season so far for North, even though Clarkson has been left to lament losses from winning positions against Collingwood, Melbourne and former employers Hawthorn.
The 58-year-old pointed to Hawthorn as one of no fewer than four examples of other clubs tasting success after sticking with the right coaches through lean periods.
Hawthorn, Fremantle, Adelaide and Brisbane are all amongst the Premiership contenders after backing long-term coaches in lieu of immediate success.
Sam Mitchell won just 15 games across his first two seasons in charge, Fremantle made the finals in just two of their first six seasons under Justin Longmuir, whilst Brisbane's Chris Fagan and Adelaide's Matthew Nicks enjoyed only ten wins each across their first two seasons as head coaches of their respective clubs.
Clarkson believes those examples as well as North's improved performances in 2026 are all the reason to stick with him and his staff as the last year of his five-year deal approaches.
"What we do know is it's done best when you've got stability and continuity," Clarkson said on Tuesday.
"When the handover of coaching (at Hawthorn) went from Clarkson to Mitchell, the club was still very stable. We had already started our rebuild. Jai Newcombe, Will Day, Dylan Moore - all these guys were already within the walls of the footy club, and now they're star players.
"We just know that (success) takes time. Those that are prepared to be patient will be rewarded for that patience.
“I’ve been on record many times over the last two or three years saying how much difficulty there is in trying to go to the bottom of the ladder to the top.
“We’ve got great faith in the process required to get the job done."
Despite being keen to lead North Melbourne in 2028 and believing he's the best man for the job, Clarkson said he won't be pressuring the board to do a deal any time soon and that "conversations of that nature" had not yet occurred.
"We'll work through what we have to work through," he added.
"I'm a bit old school. All I require is a wink and a handshake and that'll do me."
North Melbourne's season is all but over with a percentage of just 89 and a two-win deficit to the top-ten, with a tough end to the season that includes Western Bulldogs, Geelong and a trip to Sydney.