Hawthorn racism review: Luke Hodge shows his support for his former coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan
Luke Hodge played under both Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan – and he couldn’t speak more highly of the pair. Read his strong statement here.
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Dual Norm Smith Medallist Luke Hodge has shown support for his former coaches, Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan, on the back of allegations they bullied Indigenous players at Hawthorn.
Hodge, who played under both at the Hawks, then Fagan at Brisbane, issued a statement on social media on Saturday, saying he could not speak to confronting accusations made in an external review commissioned by Hawthorn, but wanted to share his personal experiences with the duo.
The three-time premiership captain also spoke of his time with another ex-Hawk mentioned in the report, former player development manager Jason Burt.
Among the review’s most shocking allegations were that club figures, including Clarkson, pressured an Indigenous player and his partner to terminate a pregnancy.
Clarkson, now coach of North Melbourne, and Fagan stood aside from their present-day positions, pending an AFL investigation.
Both of them, along with Burt, deny the allegations.
Hodge said the trio “only ever wanted the best for me and my family”.
“Alastair Clarkson shaped me into the person I am today,” Hodge posted of his Hawks coach from 2005-17.
“Inheriting a bit of a brat from Colac, he was never afraid to give me the honest truths that I needed.
“At times that was hard to hear but it came exclusively from a place of love and care for me and my future.
“Then when Lauren and I started a family he was the one I turned to.
“He has always shared his own stories and helped me to be comfortable in my own skin.”
Hodge said he had such trust in Fagan that he moved his whole family interstate to Brisbane “solely because he was leading that club”.
After 305 games with the Hawks, Hodge featured 41 times under Fagan in 2018-19.
“He is the most extraordinary mentor and confidant,” Hodge wrote.
“I am just so proud and not one bit surprised of the culture he has created and what he has built in Brisbane.”
Hodge said the work Burt did to help players transition into and out of football was tireless.
“I know people will have their own opinions on what I’m saying, but I just had to show support in a tough time for those that did exactly that for me throughout the more challenging moments of my life,” he said
“I wish them well in what is an extremely challenging time for everyone involved.”
— Luke Hodge (@LHodge15) September 30, 2022
‘Dealing with a lot’: Fagan’s video message at Lions b&f
- Greg Davis
Lions superstar Lachie Neale says the Brisbane “family” are in senior coach Chris Fagan’s corner as he prepares to fight historical allegations from his time at Hawthorn.
Speaking on Friday night after winning his third best-and-fairest gong with Brisbane, Neale said Brisbane players “definitely feel for him (Fagan)” but they were also aware that the explosive fallout from Hawthorn’s review would have an impact on Brisbane’s Indigenous players.
“We love him (Fagan) as our coach and he’s been a great supporter of us and we are a great supporter of him,’’ Neale said.
“We understand that a process has got to occur and we fully respect that. At the same time, we’re really mindful, caring and thoughtful of our Indigenous players as well.
“We know that probably it’s a tough time for them as well so we are trying to wrap our arms around those guys.
“We are a family. Fages is a part of that.
“In my experience, he’s been nothing but caring and we’ll let that process figure itself out and hopefully he’s with us sooner rather than later.”
After taking a leave of absence to answer allegations, Fagan did not attend the Merrett-Murray Medal presentation but appeared in a five-minute pre-recorded video that was played at the function at the Brisbane Convention Centre.
“I wish I could be there with you tonight to celebrate the season that we’ve just had,” Fagan said.
“I would very, very much like tonight to be a real celebration of the year ... talk about the future about what we may well do. Dream about what we can do and be optimistic about what we can do
“We’re really excited about what the future holds ... I’ve always felt supported by you guys (Lions CEO Greg Swann and Brisbane chairman Andrew Wellington) and I don’t take it for granted and I look forward to more of that in the future.’’
Neale said he had reached out to Fagan in the past week “and received a little bit back but he’d be dealing with a lot”.’
“Hopefully by the time we’re back in January, he’s back. Hopefully sooner but we’ll wait and see,’’ Neale said.
Neale drew level with Lions legends Michael Voss, Simon Black and Jonathan Brown with his third club champion award at Brisbane and took his overall career tally to five after two best-and-fairest awards at Fremantle.
“It sort of dawned on me that that’s pretty crazy. A guy that I thought was like a God when I first got drafted over to Freo (Matthew Pavlich), he won six best-and-fairests,’’ he said.
“To win five is pretty mind boggling to me and to win three at this club is really special.”
Neale said he can get fitter in 2023 – when he turns 30-years-old – and will work on improving his goalkicking and kick-to-handball ratio over the pre-season. He said he was a “weirdo” who could not wait to start his off-season training program as he was just “scratching the surface on fitness”.
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