Alastair Clarkson’s plane ticket exposes bitter Hawthorn grudge
Alastair Clarkson will not be on the same flight as his players this weekend with his blunt comment exposing a bitter falling out.
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North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson says he will not be flying with the rest of his team this weekend.
The veteran coach was bluntly honest when asked about his team’s travel arrangements for their Round 3 clash with Hawthorn — his former club — in Launceston.
Clarkson confirmed his team will be sharing a charter flight with the Hawks to return to Melbourne after the game.
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He said during his Thursday press conference that he does not believe it is appropriate for him to be sitting alongside players and officials from his former club — when his bitter separation from the club remains as icy as ever.
On top of the messy legal dispute surrounding his pay-out from the club when forced out with a year still to run on his contract — Clarkson remains in the middle of one of the club’s greatest ever scandals, which remains under investigation by an independent panel.
Clarkson has been under the microscope since allegations of racism towards Indigenous players during his time at Waverley Park surfaced last year.
The four-time premiership coach said in September he was “shocked” to read the serious historical allegations about mistreatment of Indigenous players.
He has repeatedly refuted any wrongdoing or misconduct.
Despite the allegations first becoming public in September, the panel appointed by the AFL to investigate the allegations has made little progress.
The turmoil surrounding Clarkson’s link to the club he won four premierships with is why he said he will not fly with the rest of his team on Sunday.
“We’ve got a charter flight coming back together. So I won’t jump on that flight, I’ll come on a different flight,” Clarkson said on Thursday.
“I just don’t think given the investigation that I’m embroiled in with Hawthorn, I don’t think it’s a great idea that we’d be sitting on a plane together.
“It’s only because of COVID that all of a sudden this is a great idea (two teams sharing a flight).
“But we actually said for a long period of time we don’t think the races should be together anymore, just because of the emotion of what might happen when two teams come off at halftime and at the end of the game, so let’s separate them.
“Yet after the game it’s OK to put two teams on a plane. I don’t reckon it’s smart and I don’t think it is particularly smart given what’s going on with me at the present time that I jump on that plane.
“So I spoke to the club earlier in the week. I don’t think it’s fair on anyone from within Hawthorn, I don’t think it’s fair on anyone from within North Melbourne to have to subject themselves to that and if I’m sort of the central figure in that then it just takes all the fizz out of it altogether.”
In the days following Clarkson’s sensational early departure from his former club when Hawthorn’s so-called succession plan involving coach Sam Mitchell fell apart that Clarkson was demanding a $900,000 pay-out.
His broken relationship with senior figures at Hawthorn has never been mended, it was reported recently.
Originally published as Alastair Clarkson’s plane ticket exposes bitter Hawthorn grudge
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