AFL 2022: Hawks president Jeff Kennett slams leaking of club’s racism report

Speaking for the first time since the Hawthorn racism report surfaced, Jeff Kennett said he does not consider this a crisis for the club despite being ‘flabbergasted’ by the findings.

Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has slammed the leaking of the club’s racism report to media as “unfair” and says he is hopeful that mediation can resolve the issues raised “before the end of the year”.

Speaking for the first time since the report surfaced, Kennett said he did “not consider this to be a crisis” despite himself being “flabbergasted and worse” when he first read the shocking details contained in it.

The review, conducted by Indigenous former Richmond player Phil Egan, revealed allegations from Hawks players and their partners that claimed they had been subjected to “bullying and intimidation tactics … used to isolate First Nations players from their families and communities”.

Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has been hit hard by the contents of the club-commissioned report into the experiences of First Nations players. Picture: Ian Currie

“We wanted them to tell their stories about their time at Hawthorn and since,” Kennett said at the club’s best-and-fairest count on Saturday night.

“But it wasn’t an inquiry in that sense. It was to make sure, as we always do, we put the welfare of our people first.

“It was a story telling where those telling the stories asked for confidentiality. We respected that. Sadly they made a decision to talk to the press and sadly they named people with whom they had very real issues. That was unfair to those people, so therefore we need to have this resolved.”

Jeff Kennett with former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson, who is the subject of some serious allegations.

Serious allegations were levelled at former key Hawthorn officials, including then-senior coach Alastair Clarkson, former Hawks football boss Chris Fagan, another ex-Hawks football boss in Mark Evans and ex-football department staffer Jason Burt.

Clarkson, Fagan and Burt have all strongly denied the allegations and were not interviewed as part of the report.

“I don’t know how long it will take to resolve,” Kennett said.

“I hope that all parties can come together in some form of mediation and it could be resolved before the end of the year so that people can get on with their lives and our players and our coaches can all focus on the thing we salute them for.”

While not referring to the review specifically, first-year Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said he took the welfare of his players and staff seriously and said he was proud of the growth of the group off the field this year.

Jeff Kennett has backed the opportunity for the accused to respond to the allegations in the upcoming investigation.

“Looking after our people will be my responsibility — absolutely — until the day I leave this club,” Mitchell said.

“While we’ve taken a huge amount of strides on the field…. we’ve made a lot more ground off the field.”

Kennett — who served as Hawthorn president from 2005 to 2011 before returning to take back the reins in 2017 — said the report was “a bump along the highway” but an “important bump”.

“The one thing that the investigation showed was that we have a safe, cultural workplace now. So these are issues of the past,” he said.

“What I hope will come in future is if anyone has an issue in the future … if you believe there has been inappropriate behaviour, tell us at the time. Go to the CEO or go to the head of football. We don’t want anyone to feel and carry the burden of inappropriate behaviour if, in fact, inappropriate behaviour is proven. Because at this stage we’ve only had one side.”