WARNING: This story contains references to intergenerational trauma for Indigenous people, themes of suicide, self-harm and pregnancy loss.
The partner of a former Hawthorn footballer claims to have had desperate pleas for assistance dismissed by the football club, according to bombshell emails contained in the club’s racism report.
The Herald Sun on Wednesday exposed emails the partner of a former footballer claims to have sent to former Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold, as claimed in the Hawthorn-commissioned review, titled ‘Cultural Safety Review: Of Past and Present Indigenous Players and Staff of the Hawthorn Football Club’.
The Herald Sun has obtained the full report and the findings can be viewed in full here.
Newbold last week announced he was taking a leave of absence from his position as a commissioner of the AFL.
The report contains claims the woman wrote to Newbold when she was seven weeks pregnant claiming former coach Alastair Clarkson, assistant coach Chris Fagan and former Hawthorn player development manager Jason Burt had arrived at her home and removed her partner from the home after grabbing only a few belongings from the house.
The report claims Newbold responded to an email sent by the woman, saying it was “not appropriate” for him to become involved.
He has now told The Herald Sun he never saw the emails. “I want to refute that absolutely. It’s not my language I would use”.
Clarkson, who has been appointed coach of North Melbourne, and Fagan, the coach of the Brisbane Lions, have both repeatedly denied the allegations made in the report.
his website makes no suggestion that the claims or assertions are accurate, only that they have been made and are being investigated by various bodies.
Hawthorn chief executive Justin Reeves said last week the “heartbreaking” findings of the review alleging serious mistreatment of First Nations players came as “a surprise to everyone” who worked for the Hawks at the time.
The report includes claims the woman wrote to a club official she had been “shell-shocked” by the episode and claims to have been given no indication that her footballer partner was going to move out of the home they shared together.
The report claims she was told by a club official she “would have no contact with him”.
The report contains a claim the woman eventually went to police to have welfare check on her partner after claiming to have received no reply from club officials.
Contained in the report is a claim the woman wrote in one email to Newbold that she was experiencing “severe anxiety attacks” over the situation and had become “severely concerned” for her partner’s “wellbeing and emotional state”.
“I think the way this has been handled is so disgraceful,” the woman writes in one email included in the club’s report.
“How could any person with a heart think that it would be okay to do this to any person, let alone someone who is 7 weeks pregnant.
“I feel like me and this baby have been treated with such disrespect and ruthlessness by the club.
“I would hate to think (the club that) proudly recognizes themselves as a family club that you would find this situation and their behaviour acceptable.”
Contained in the report is a statement the woman is claimed to have sent the club, writing: “Not one person has contacted me and asked if I’m okay or needed help, nobody has checked that the baby is okay”.
The ABCreported last week the woman referred to in the report suffered a miscarriage a few weeks after her partner left their home.
Earlier, it was revealed the report includes a claim from another former Hawthorn footballer he needs full time care following alleged mistreatment during his time with the football club.
The player says he has made several suicide attempts in the report and claims they would not have occurred if club staff had cultural awareness training and had more knowledge about First Nations people.
The most troubling episode in the report centres around one unsubstantiated allegation mentioned in the report, which details how one player claims Clarkson and Fagan were present at a meeting where he was told to leave his pregnant partner — and then move to live with a member of the club’s staff.
The Herald Sun on Tuesday reported that the Hawks’ review of its handling of Indigenous players revealed an unnamed Hawks coach accused former Hawthorn player development manager Jason Burt, Clarkson, Fagan and former football boss Mark Evans of operating the football department “like The Russian Mafia”.
The report contained further allegations that Clarkson, Fagan and Burt used “bullying and intimidation’’ against First Nations players and their partners between 2010 and 2016. Some incidents were so serious to “amount to human rights abuses’’.
Burt on Tuesday night released a statement to “categorically deny the conduct attributed to me in the media”. Both Clarkson and Fagan have denied any wrongdoing.
Journalist Damian Barrett said on Tuesday he believes the fallout from the investigation will see the two coaches miss the start of next season.
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan announced last week an independent four-person panel would be put together to investigate the accusations and said the process would take around two months.
— The Herald Sun has exclusively obtained the full report titled Cultural Safety Review: Of Past and Present Indigenous Players and Staff of the Hawthorn Football Club.
