SACKED podcast: Andrew Russell reveals his shock at Cyril Rioli’s Hawthorn racism allegations

Andrew Russell was at Hawthorn for the entirety of Cyril Rioli’s career and says he’d never seen someone treated as well as Cyril was during his time at the Hawks. Then the bombshell came.

Cyril Rioli told Hawthorn’s high performance boss Andrew Russell in the week before his shock retirement he had never been happier at the club despite the racism saga that unfolded four years after the premiership hero departed the Hawks.

Russell told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast he believed Hawks premiership coach Alastair Clarkson treated all players equally despite the controversy that ripped apart the Hawthorn Football Club.

Rioli was the lead plaintiff in a Federal Court statement of claim alleging racism at Hawthorn after a 2022 Hawks investigation that contained bombshell allegations against Clarkson, footy boss Chris Fagan and player welfare manager Jason Burt.

Cyril Rioli and Andrew Russell Grand Final week 2014. Picture: Colleen Petch.

The settlement was reached “without determination of any parties’ allegations.”

Burt was the club’s player development manager, while Russell was never part of the allegations but was at Hawthorn for 14 seasons that included Rioli’s entire career.

Russell told the Sacked podcast he was crestfallen by the allegations against his former colleagues given he did not believe Clarkson was involved in any racist behaviour.

The comments form a rare first-hand account of Rioli’s behaviour in the lead up to his shock retirement.

“The way Cyril was treated at the football club, I’ve never seen anyone else treated as well as Cyril. I’ve never seen anyone treated with as much respect as Cyril and his family,” Russell told Sacked.

“The week before Cyril left he told me it’s the happiest he had ever been at the football club. Because he had done his knee, he was coming back, I spent a lot of time with him. He said, ‘Oh, it’s great, I can’t wait to play with Shaun Burgoyne in his 350th’.

“Gee, didn’t that (racism saga) get out of control.”

Rioli has been largely estranged from the Hawthorn Football Club – which apologised to him and other former players and their families for “experiencing ongoing hurt and distress in their time at the club” - but is to return to the public light as part of the AFL legends game on Thursday August 28.

Rioli has been largely estranged from the Hawthorn Football Club – which apologised to him and his family for racism at his time at the club – but is to return to the public light as part of the AFL legends game on Thursday August 28.

Russell said that while Clarkson was strong with his playing group about setting standards he never played favourites with players of different races or cultures.

“He only wanted the best for people. We wanted to help people, we wanted to help all those boys create lives for themselves,” he said.

“Make money, create legacies, all those things. He was the same with everyone. He was the same with everyone and it had nothing to do with (race). He was like that with (Luke) Hodge, he was the same with Jarryd Roughead, he was like that with me. He was like that with Cyril.”

Russell said Rioli claimed he was happier than ever just before his retirement. Picture: Colleen Petch

“Jason Burt was the best player development manager. You could not imagine a better person or a better PDM in the game. What he did for so many people, living at his house, he was brilliant in the role. Footy clubs need great people. You can’t have a weakness. You don’t need to be brilliant in everything you do but you can’t have a weakness. That part of the footy club was so well run. Jase, Chris Fagan was fantastic for Clarko and the players. The balance worked really well. You can’t perform at that level the group performed at without having a level of harmony and respect. Sometimes there were tough conversations.

“That is what high performance is and some people don’t like it. Some people feel very uncomfortable in that space, but that’s the space you have to be in.

“If you want to be great, that’s the space you have to be in. He was amazing to those players and their families. Everyone supported those families.”

The racism allegations were never fully tested in court or found to be true or false before a settlement was reached and Hawthorn apologised to the players including Rioli.

All former Hawthorn staffers have strongly denied the allegations.

Originally published as SACKED podcast: Andrew Russell reveals his shock at Cyril Rioli’s Hawthorn racism allegations