Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell has no idea when the Hawks will be completely clear of the racism controversy surrounding the club, but captain James Sicily says the players have been “sheltered” from the saga and that it hasn’t impacted them.
Mitchell was loath to talk about the situation on Thursday, a day after club president Andy Gowers made it clear the Hawks would be disappointed should they be sanctioned in the wake of the AFL shutting down its investigation into the matter.
While the issues centred around historical governance and allegations against senior staff no longer at the club, the current administration is dealing with the fallout, and Hawthorn remains entrenched in the headlines.
Mitchell conceded it was hard to escape, and didn’t know if there was an end in sight in the near future.
But he said it’s not a central issue which those in the football program regularly discuss, nor was it a distraction, with the club having recording back-to-back wins in recent weeks.
“There is a lot of conversation before you get here with newspapers and (the media), but Wednesday was the players’ day off,”
“But the time we come in today, we’ve had the mid-season draft and they have two new teammates.
“So within the football program, you move on quickly.
“You know there are significant things happening on the outside and not to downplay them in the slightest, but if I’m a 20 or 25-year-old young man and I’ve got two new teammates, that is the thing I would be talking about when I turn up to work.
“We had their families in, telling stories about each other. So they got a few laughs out of the boys to start the day … I think young men are pretty quick to move on.
“As corny as it sounds, being ready for Port Adelaide this week is our job and we need to be ready for that.”
Mitchell was asked if the club could have handled this matter differently, but declined to comment and didn’t have any information on the prospect of sanctions.
He did say he “felt for everyone involved”, while Sicily, who will miss this Saturday’s clash with Port Adelaide through suspension, said the club had tried hard to keep the players distanced from matters which don’t involve them.
“I feel like we have been sheltered the whole time from the investigation and the talk around it; it doesn’t really infiltrate the footy department,” he told RSN.
“I don’t want that to suggest there’s no alignment – we have just been sheltered by the club in that regard.”
As a leader of the club, Sicily said he hoped there could yet be healing and that former coach Alastair Clarkson, Chris Fagan and Justin Burt, the men in the middle of the allegations, could rebuild broken relationships with the Hawks.
“I just hope that, on both sides, they can heal from this,” he said.
“I’d hope that one day Clarko and Fages and Jason Burt can rebuild that relationship so that they feel comfortable getting involved with Hawthorn. There’s three flags they are a part of, there will be reunions.
“Hopefully it gets back to a level where they can be involved because they are a big part of the footy club.”
