Former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson says the leaking of the club’s cultural safety review revealing the allegedly traumatic experiences of Indigenous players has “seriously undermined if not irrevocably corrupted” the chance of fair process being followed in a proposed AFL investigation.
The review contained testimonies from former Hawthorn players and their partners alleging they were forced to separate from each other and kept away from their families during their time at the club between 2010 and 2016.
Alastair Clarkson.Credit:AFL Photos
A source close to the situation who was not permitted to speak publicly confirmed the accuracy of a leaked version of the report Hawthorn commissioned after four-time premiership player Cyril Rioli aired concerns about the way he had been treated.
In a statement released on Wednesday afternoon, Clarkson said that publication on Tuesday of “purported” extracts from the report means “I now have grave concerns that any chance of a fair process and just outcome have been seriously undermined, if not irrevocably corrupted”.
“It remains profoundly disappointing that these matters are now being widely canvassed in the public domain without the opportunity being given to me or others to give our accounts or even read the Hawthorn report, which to this day I have not seen,” Clarkson said.
“The failure to maintain the confidentiality of the review and further damaging public speculation means I have no option but to express publicly, in the strongest and most emphatic terms possible, that I did not behave in the manner claimed.
“As the allegations against me have been spread widely and sometimes presented as indisputable matters of fact, I must state that my clear memory of the matters reported is very different.”
Clarkson, former football manager Chris Fagan and former development coach Jason Burt have all been mentioned in the leaked draft report, which was published by the Herald Sun on Tuesday.
The review claimed Clarkson, Fagan and Burt used “bullying and intimidation” against First Nations players and their partners, with the incidents so serious as to “amount to human rights abuses”.
It alleged the “aggressive intimidatory actions were undertaken by the most senior of the coaching and management hierarchy”.
Two pregnant partners of players lost their unborn children during the “traumatic events”, the report said.
One partner alleged that: “For three grown men [Clarkson, Fagan and Burt] to have walked into my house with no warning, and intimidate, trap and bully me full well knowing I’m carrying a child is just by no means acceptable.”
A former Hawthorn coach, now seen as a whistleblower, said of the football department: “If you [dared] question their methods, you were frozen out.
“Clarkson, Fagan and Burt operated the football department like the Russian mafia,” the report said.
In his statement Clarkson said he had been “deeply distressed” by the allegations, first reported by the ABC last week, and confirmed he was still willing to co-operate with an AFL investigation, but would not “hesitate to take further steps to protect my position and reputation should that be necessary”.
“I believe the genuine affection I held for all the players who walked through the doors into Hawthorn is well known. I have always appreciated and respected the unique journeys of First Nations players into the highest echelons of Australian rules football.
“I have been committed to acknowledging and understanding their many varied experiences and brought all my efforts to ensuring these players are given the opportunity to realise their dreams. But not at any cost, and never at the cost of their families as has been alleged. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and deeply offensive.”
Fagan, who is now coach of the Brisbane Lions, has retained legal team Clayton Utz to represent him and taken leave of absence from his job to assist with the investigation.
Alastair Clarkson (left) and Chris Fagan at Hawthorn in 2016.Credit:Getty Images.
Clarkson, who was appointed as North Melbourne coach in August after a year out of the game, has delayed the start date of that job.
North Melbourne president Sonja Hood said on the weekend that she supported Clarkson’s version of events.
“I’m really confident in his side of the story. I’m sure we will get a chance to hear that through the AFL’s process,” Hood told Seven News.
“We’ve been really horrified and disturbed by the allegations, I think everybody has, and we’ll be looking to provide assistance to all of our people through this and Alastair is one of our people.”
North Melbourne President Sonja Hood speaks to the media after announcing Clarkson as the Kangaroos’ new coach.Credit:Getty Images
The AFL is confident of finalising the panel to investigate the claims as soon as Thursday, or Friday at the latest, having found selecting people with both the expertise and the trust of all parties a challenge.
The panel, which will be headed by a King’s Counsel or retired judge, was expected to be four people but could be as many as five with a gender and cultural mix.
The terms of reference for the panel will be drafted in the days after the panel is finalised.
The panel will have no legal standing other than in relation to AFL rules and regulations under the workplace and respect and responsibility policy, thus only current AFL registered employees can be compelled to participate in the investigation.
The former players and their partners are not required to participate but it is strongly hoped and expected that they will.
On Wednesday the AFL Coaches Association called on the AFL to expedite the investigation into the events at Hawthorn.
In a statement the association’s chief executive Alistair Nicholson said the coaches named in the Hawthorn Football Club report were not interviewed, nor provided with an opportunity to respond to the allegations made before it was handed to the club and AFL.
“They still have not had an opportunity to respond in full to the claims made in the report, which has now been provided to two major media outlets,” Nicholson’s statement read.
AFL commissioner and former Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold on Wednesday strongly denied any wrongdoing with former Hawks players and their partners.
Emails alleged to be from Newbold to the partner of a former player have been reported by News Corp.
Newbold has denied sending the emails.
Sources close to the situation said the president’s Hawthorn email address was accessible by many people.
“I reiterate my earlier statement that I categorically deny any inference of wrongdoing whatsoever in relation to contact with players and their partners at the Hawthorn Football Club,” Newbold told The Age.
“I am unable to comment any further at this time, but am eager to participate fully in the AFL’s forthcoming investigation which I am confident will be full, fair and transparent.”
Hawthorn’s review has provided seven recommendations to the club, including to pay financial reparations and publicly apologise to those allegedly mistreated by senior football department figures.
The Hawthorn report also recommended the club expands its investigation; creates a new role for a general manager of Indigenous development to report to the chief executive; and implements a range of cultural training and safety policies.
The document said the club had improved its treatment of First Nations players and was now “well led by an inclusive coach and head of football”, but the past experiences of some players were “tantamount to human rights abuses”.
With Jon Pierik, Lachlan Abbott and Marnie Vinall
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