Hawthorn captain James Sicily gets dressing down from coach over Tasmania comments

An off-the-cuff remark about not wanting to live in Tasmania has earnt some repercussions for the Hawthorn captain.

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says captain James Sicily “needs to be better” after making disparaging comments about Tasmania that he was forced to apologise for.

Responding to a question about the potential list-build issues for a new Tasmanian team during a radio interview on Wednesday, Sicily said he “couldn’t imagine myself living there”.

The first-year captain apologised for the comments, calling them “flippant”, after they created a social media storm with rebuttals from former Australian Test cricketers Tim Paine and Matthew Wade, both proud Tasmanians.

pic.twitter.com/DldCI6Tdrc

— James Sicily (@J_Sicily) April 26, 2023

The comments were more significant given the Tasmanian government has been a long-time sponsor of Hawthorn, who play games annually on the Apple Isle.

Earlier this year, the partnership was extended with a two-year deal worth $13.5m, and the federal government is on the verge of pledging $240m to build a new stadium for Tasmania’s own AFL team.

On Thursday morning, Mitchell said he had spoken to his skipper and conceded Sicily needed to be more careful with what he said.

“I spoke to him a few times, he’s got to learn from this,” Mitchell said.

“But by the same token he’s frustrated because it’s not what he meant. It’s not a reflection of his thinking ... but as the captain of the club he needs to be better.

“He was much more talking about his personal situation.”

Mitchell, who said Sicily was not asked to apologise in any official capacity, was at pains to say he and the players loved their connection with Tasmania.

That includes Sicily who stayed an extra day after last week’s narrow loss to GWS.

“I’ve been going there for 20 years . We love our time in Tassie,” he said.

“We have the players the option if they wanted to stay because we had a day off the next day.

“More than half of the players actually stayed in Tassie, including James, after the game and spent some extra time there.”

Sam Mitchell in Launceston last weekend. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Mitchell also had a “strong” talk to Sicily who confirmed he took himself off in the final minutes of that games against the Giants. The coach said he should have been out there.

“We have to take some responsibility for not giving him a rest earlier,” he said.

“He felt, personally, like he was a liability because he was so fatigued, but what he doesn’t recognise is everyone else walks taller when he’s around them.

“There was five or six of us who cost us the game ... we have to look at those things.”

The coach confirmed gun forward Mitch Lewis needed only to complete training to return from a knee injury for Saturday’s clash with the Western Bulldogs.

“He’ll come straight in,” Mitchell said.