Bad blood between AFL premiership icons gets ugly as story emerges

The sad feud between former AFL premiership partners has deteriorated further with news one coach is refusing to accept the other’s calls.

Alastair Clarkson and Sam Mitchell.

Alastair Clarkson has reportedly further strained his relationship with former Hawthorn premiership captain Sam Mitchell with a story that has been swirling around the game.

The reported bad blood between the four-time premiership coach and his former lieutenant has continued to worsen in recent years following the ill-fated succession plan that saw Mitchell replace Clarkson one season early at Hawthorn.

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A report by veteran football journalist Caroline Wilson on Monday night suggested Clarkson has raised eyebrows by repeatedly criticising Mitchell’s early grand final performances while giving a speech to AFL academy prospects.

The Herald Sun first reported details of the speech Clarkson gave to the teenage players last week.

Wilson said Clarkson regularly tells the story of Mitchell’s rise from his early struggles to becoming a legend of the football club in a possible attempt to motivate emerging young footballers.

Sam Mitchell during his team’s thumping at the hands of the Melbourne Demons. Photo by Darrian Traynor/AFL Photos/via Getty Images.

However, Wilson said on Channel 9’s Footy Classified on Monday night the re-telling of the story has not gone down well with Mitchell or his former football club.

“My understanding is that this is a story Alastair Clarkson tells often,” she said.

“You can treat it as a redemption story that Sam didn’t play well in a couple of grand finals before becoming one of the great premiership heroes of the Hawthorn Football Club.

“This is not the way it has been seen by the Hawthorn Football Club or Sam Mitchell.

“The speech went for a long time ... a lot longer than even they expected. Various versions have come out of that meeting, some say it was a redemption version, others say words like ‘selfish’ were used by Clarkson in relation to Mitchell.

Alastair Clarkson and Sam Mitchell.

“It has fragmented a footy club. Frankly, it’s fragmented a premiership dynasty because I think people are starting to take sides now. Are you a Clarkson man or are you a Mitchell man?

“Mitchell, up until now, has taken the moral high ground, he hasn’t actually said much. I predict that might change this week.”

She said Mitchell has not answered phone calls from Clarkson while the 55-year-old attempts to explain why he has continued to tell the story.

Mitchell has previously spoken about his relationship with Clarkson, including in his autobiography Relentless, where he shared a text from the coach in 2011 questioning the last time he “played well” in a final.

“I really enjoyed working with Clarko for most of the time,” Mitchell said on 6PR when the book was released in 2018.

“I think the book goes into a few rough details, like most good honest relationships that you build – not everything is smooth sailing.

Mitchell was eventually traded to West Coast in 2016, where he went on to begin his coaching career before landing as Clarkson’s replacement at Hawthorn.

Ahead of the team’s showdown earlier this season it was reported the pair still have “no great relationship to speak of”.

Mitchell said last week he was sad to hear of suggestions Clarkson would not be attending the club’s 10-year reunion for the premiership won in 2013.