An Indigenous barrister and a King’s Counsel who is leading the AFL’s concussion probe are expected to be appointed to the panel that will investigate the Hawthorn scandal.
Sources with a knowledge of the panel said that the AFL was expected to name Bernard Quinn, KC, as the chairman of the panel, while Tim Goodwin, an Indigenous barrister of the Yuin people (coastal NSW), would also be a member of the group that will investigate the issues and allegations raised in Hawthorn’s cultural safety review.
The AFL had announced there would be an inquiry after the Hawthorn scandal came to light in grand final week.Credit:Paul Rovere
Quinn, who is a class action specialist, is already leading the AFL’s review of the advice the league had received from Associate Professor Paul McCrory, who helped the AFL develop concussion protocols; the AFL’s review of McCrory’s work followed allegations of scientific plagiarism against the concussion expert.
The panel is likely to consist of four people, with at least one of the four members to be a woman.
Quinn is a well-known Victorian legal figure, who had previous experience with the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. Goodwin also is a member of the Victorian bar.
The AFL had announced there would be an inquiry after the Hawthorn scandal came to light in grand final week when the ABC published interviews with three First Nations former players and their partners, who made allegations of inappropriate handling of their personal issues by club staff. These allegations had been made in the cultural safety review that the club had commissioned in the fall-out from grievances aired by former champion Cyril Rioli.
New North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson and Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan have strenuously denied allegations from their time at the Hawks and vowed to cooperate with the AFL investigation, with Fagan having taken personal leave to deal with the investigation while Clarkson will delay his start at North Melbourne pending the inquiry.
The former players had expressed reluctance to front an inquiry unless it was independent of AFL influence. AFL Commission member and ex-Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold also stepped aside citing a conflict of interest in the matter, since he was president for some of the period covered by the Hawthorn review, from 2010 to 2016.
The AFL has had difficulties in forming the panel, having also considered a raft of retired judges to head the panel.
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