Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson played guitar and sang to pay tribute to departing Hawks premiership heroes

How did the greatest tactician of the modern era pay tribute to three departing Hawthorn premiership stars? It involved a guitar and a reworked version of the U2 classic.

Alastair Clarkson has musical talent and uses it to celebrate his players.

Alastair Clarkson picked up his guitar and began strumming a few chords.

Hawthorn’s players and staff were crammed into the club’s theatrette as part of a farewell for premiership heroes Sam Mitchell, Jordan Lewis and Brad Hill.

The trio were all off to new homes as part of unexpected trades.

But instead of getting stuck straight into a big speech, Clarkson unbuckled his guitar case and opened up his lungs.

And in the bowels of Waverley Park, the greatest coach of the modern era delivered a reworked version of a U2 classic, in tribute to his three premiership stars.

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“We were all there for the guys who were leaving and Clarko broke out into ‘With Or Without You’,” former Hawk Jack Fitzpatrick said.

“Clarko was up there, singing, ‘We can’t live … with or without you’.

“It wasn’t Australian Idol standard, but he wasn’t bad either, and that was just his way of expressing the emotion in things.

“It was his way of keeping things a bit lighthearted and jovial, but there was always a message behind it, too.”

Alastair Clarkson has musical talent and uses it to celebrate his players.

A big Bruce Springsteen fan, Clarkson grew up in a musical family. His mother was a pianist and organist for the local choir in Kaniva, where he grew up.

But it wasn’t until he was struck down with Guillain-Barre Syndrome in 2014 that he began learning the guitar, while he handed over the senior coaching reins to former lieutenant Brendon Bolton.

“Doctors said: ‘Find yourself a hobby that you always had an appetite to do, but you never got around to doing.’ I found a lot of enjoyment doing that,” Clarkson said.

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So, the four-time premiership coach began strumming away.

And for the past five years, Clarkson, 50, has repeatedly turned to the guitar, in part, to help celebrate Hawthorn’s milestone games, farewells, important wins and, in one instance, to conduct a musical match review.

“Players aren’t big fans of the match review meeting, where you go through all the things that you stuffed up, or did well on the weekend,” an insider said.

“But one day, and I’m not kidding, he sat down with the guitar and sang it. He sang the meeting.

Clarkson and his players ahead of last year’s qualifying final against Richmond. Picture: Michael Klein

“It was unexpected, but it was a great way to freshen things up a bit.”

The guitar was perfect for the Hawks’ traditional pre-finals camps where the players and coaches would all sit around a bonfire at a rural setting, strum some tunes, and “talk about what that particular finals campaign meant to everyone”.

There was also a song for Shaun Burgoyne’s 350th match last year, Luke Hodge’s 300th before he departed for the Brisbane Lions, Grant Birchall and Josh Gibson’s 200ths, and Cyril Rioli’s 150th.

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The team would always be gathered and sometimes family members, too.

“He sang me a song in front of my wife,” Burgoyne said.

“He makes up the lyrics, he gets a popular song and he expects everyone to sing the chorus as well.”

Sometimes it was funny, as Hodge recalled.

“One day after a big win in Tassie he did one of those corny ones and the boys just pi--ed themselves,” Hodge said.

Clarkson joins the guard of honour to show respect for Shaun Burgoyne after his 350th career game last year. Picture: Michael Klein

But the Hawks haven’t forgotten, in particular, the meaning behind the first tune.

In a way, this was emotional, and raw. It was about connecting with each other and opening up.

Stepping out of your comfort zone and dropping the guard.

Being vulnerable.

It was about the bond which glued together one of the most successful teams in the game’s history.

“There was an important message to the boys in there about opening up to each other and the rest of the group,” Hodge said.

“He was saying in it ‘open up’, ‘be vulnerable’, ‘don’t be embarrassed’.

“That was at a time when he was still learning the guitar, so there was a bit of rust, but he is a very determined man.

“He kept improving, and then all of a sudden it came to milestone games and he sat down and played a song and substituted words for my 300th.

Clarkson celebrated players including Jordan Lewis, Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell with songs. Picture: Getty

“You could see he had always put a lot of time and effort into it.”

Premiership defender Josh Gibson added: “Clarko was always comfortable putting himself out there for the team’s sake.

“Everyone was about team-first culture.

“But sometimes we laughed. ‘Birch’ would sing along with him sometimes and he would try to get ‘Stratts’ (Ben Stratton) in there, too, because he liked his music.”

One senior Hawthorn figure said Clarkson’s football genius was undisputed, but this was all about relationships.

“You can always just get up there and talk about a player’s career, but to be able to put it in a song — the players were always very appreciative,” the official said.

“Certainly, it’s a unique way to do it and if you look back over the great coaches over time they have always been prepared to do some things differently.

“In this case, it not only attaches you to the individual, it captures the whole group.”