Hawks coach Sam Mitchell makes a sad admission about the club’s ruined relationship with Alastair Clarkson over bombshell racism probe
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says premiership mentor Alastair Clarkson would be ‘unlikely’ to attend a 10-year reunion this year in the wake of the racism scandal that he said had taken an ’emotional toll’ on everyone at the club.
Mitchell was responding after Clarkson launched a scathing attack on the credibility of the Hawthorn investigation and labelled his old club ‘shameful’ as he declared he’s been unfairly treated for the entire process.
Clarkson, now coaching North Melbourne, unleashed on Thursday and said he was frustrated at being denied a chance to present his version of events to the investigators over the previous eight months, and that Hawthorn should be investigated for its handling of the issue.
Mitchell, who replaced Clarkson when he made a premature exit from the Hawks, said he was ‘saddened’ by the whole situation and the longer it dragged on the harder it would be for everyone.
‘The emotional toll that it takes on so many stakeholders, whichever side of it you’re on, or if you’re the innocent bystander as the public, the football fan or the Hawthorn member, I think a lot of people are saddened by the whole thing,’ he told SEN.
‘There’s probably a whole bunch of other emotions that come into it depending on your mood on a given day.
‘The big picture is everyone wants this finished as quickly and as fairly as possible. It doesn’t feel like that is what’s happening quickly or fairly.
‘I think if we soldier on and push towards to that, whoever is in control of all this … the only people enjoying it going longer and longer are the lawyers.’
As he unloaded on Thursday, Clarkson said he did not want to call himself a victim of the situation, but urged either Hawthorn or the AFL to take charge of the proceedings, blaming his former club for the confusion over the investigation.
‘There’s one particular party out there that was the catalyst for all this, that haven’t been investigated at all – their governance and conduct in this whole thing, the Hawthorn Football Club, just shameful,’ Clarkson said.
‘Let’s do an investigation on them and their practices and see how they go.
‘All these events … just makes it a circus, someone just needs to cut through it all and take ownership of the whole process, whether that’s from within the Hawthorn Football Club or the AFL.’
Hawthorn issued a statement Thursday afternoon saying the club continued to co-operate fully with the AFL and independent panel.
