AFL coach lashes out over detail surrounding Bondi stabbing ‘scourge’

AFL coach Alastair Clarkson has made a powerful statement after the Bondi stabbing tragedy, hitting out at government figures.

Alastair Clarkson has made an emotional call for change. Photo: Fox Footy.

Alastair Clarkson has called for tougher measures surrounding drugs and alcohol related violence in the wake of the Bondi stabbing rampage that has rocked the country.

The North Melbourne coach was on Sunday overcome with emotion in his pre-game interview when asked about the tragedy.

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The usually stoic coach was visibly emotional when speaking about Sydney mum Ashlee Good, who died in the Bondi Westfield attack.

The Kangaroos on Sunday morning confirmed Good is the daughter of North Melbourne great Kerry Good, who played 74 games for the football club.

According to witnesses, Good tried to save her daughter after they were both attacked, handing her baby to two strangers as she fought for life.

Good’s family has said her baby daughter is “doing well” after hours of surgery.

Alastair Clarkson and Bondi stabber Joel Cauchi.

Clarkson, a four-time Hawthorn premiership coach, called for sweeping societal changes in the wake of recent tragedies after his side’s 75-point loss to Geelong.

Clarkson highlighted drug and alcohol-related violence, but there has been no suggestion from police that Bondi stabber Joel Cauchi was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the attack.

It emerged on Sunday Cauchi had been diagnosed with a mental illness at the age of 17 and suffered from schizophrenia.

Queensland Police said on Sunday it is believed Cauchi‘s mental health had declined in the last few years.

Cauchi killed five women and one man in the busy shopping centre attack, and put an additional 12 people in hospital.

Clarkson was visibly distraught when discussing the deaths following his team’s loss to Geelong.

The 55-year-old also noted the unrelated tragedies that have rocked Ballarat in Victoria.

In February, Ian Butler allegedly stabbed his partner, Ballarat woman Rebecca Young, to death before taking his own life.

Lachlan Young 21, has also been charged with murder after the body of 23-year-old Victorian woman Hannah McGuire was found in a burnt-out car.

The body of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy has also yet to be found. Patrick Orren Stephenson, 22, was charged with Murphy’s murder last month.

Clarkson said the recent tragedies should prompt lawmakers to make changes.

“It’s difficult for the Good family to have to deal with that tragedy obviously. It’s difficult for us all to deal with,” he said.

“You’re just fed up with it to be fair. We’ve got three families in Ballarat grieving. We get the same thing after every one of them, drugs or alcohol, and yet as a society, as a government we say, ‘Our fellow Australian’s we’re grieving for our lost ones again’.

“When is it actually going to change? When are people actually going to do something about this scourge on society which is drugs and alcohol.

“The government does nothing about it to the extent that they should. Drugs is an issue in our sport and we don’t do enough about it and we should. And it’s crippling society. And this is one of the best countries in the world, but we can do something about it. But we just tolerate it and don’t stand up against it.

“And then tragedies like this happen and it’s just… I just really feel for everyone that’s connected to it. I feel for those families in Ballarat. I spent three years in the Ballarat area as a kid going to school and to think that community, that beautiful, tight-knit community, they’re at pain too.

Clarkson was supported by Geelong great Cam Mooney.

“In this country, it shouldn’t happen like this. We need to do something about it. It’s not one person. There needs to be a whole heap of people that galvanise… Our judicial system doesn’t… so many times they say, ‘Oh, yeah he was out on bail or parole or whatever’. It’s just gotta stop. It’s gotta stop.

“That poor little girl, Harriet, without her mum now. Ash Good was a beautiful, beautiful lady.

“A bloody tragedy. A bloody tragedy.”

Good was the daughter of Kerry Good, who retired from playing football 1983 and served on the club’s board of directors during the Kangaroos’ premiership seasons the 1990s.

The Kangaroos honoured Good with black armbands after getting the support of the Good family.

Clarkson showed how significant the loss is to the football club when he struggled through his classy pre-match interview.

“It’s shocking for our club and in particular for the family,” he said.

North Melbourne player Kerry Good.

Alastair Clarkson was overcome with emotion in his pre-game interview. Ashlee Good is pictured with former Demons star Steve Febey, a close friend.

“Kerry’s been a significant part of our club for a long time. It’s just so sad. That beautiful girl ... she’s not going to have a mum. Breaks our heart. It breaks out hearts. Even more, it’s just humanity. This is happening in our country.

“We’re going to get the same excuse. Drugs and alcohol. We’ve got to do something about it. There’s got to be a time where it just stops.

“The strange part about it is you get to the next day these boys get to do what they love and that’s been denied to Ashlee and five other families. Now we have a game of footy that we have to play. Our hearts are pretty low today.”

Fox Footy analyst and Kangaroos legend David King also wrote on Twitter: “Awful news. Unimaginable what KG and family are going through at the moment. Thinking of you guys.”

Originally published as AFL coach lashes out over detail surrounding Bondi stabbing ‘scourge’