Brisbane Lions coach and former Hawthorn staffer Chris Fagan says he’d welcome the chance to tell his side of the story of the Hawks’ racism saga in court.
Fagan told Seven News on Tuesday night that he was disappointed mediation talks had failed, and continued to maintain his innocence.
Chris Fagan’s Brisbane Lions face a tough task to return to the grand final stage in 2024.Credit: Getty Images
“I’ve maintained my innocence all the way along and I’m quite happy for that process to unroll and for us to go to the Federal Court, where we have to talk under oath,” the 62-year-old told Seven.
“It’s a proper court proceeding.”
This masthead revealed on Monday that the Australian Human Rights Commission had terminated a claim against Hawthorn by First Nations ex-players and their partners after the parties failed to come to a deal.
The commission’s decision – based on its view that the parties were too far apart – left the players and partners, including former champion Cyril Rioli and his partner, Shannyn, with 60 days to file and take the matter to the Federal Court.
The sticking point between Hawthorn and the former players and partners was largely that the club was unwilling to make an explicit admission of racism in dealing with the players and partners, in allegations that were first raised in a cultural safety review commissioned by the club and that were reported by the ABC in grand final week of 2022.
Fagan said while the accusations weren’t a distraction in his current role as coach of the Lions, they did have a personal impact.
“[I’ve] been living with that for the last 18, 20 months, so it’s quite normal now,” Fagan told Seven of the ongoing saga.
“I’d rather not be caught up in all of this - especially for the sake of your family and friends - but that’s just the way it is.
“[It will be] some time before we actually get to have that [court] hearing, so we’ll see how all of that goes.”
The Lions, who lost a nail-biting grand final to Collingwood last year, are 13th on the ladder with just four wins from their 11 games to date this season. They were upset by the Hawks at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.
Former Hawthorn coaches Alastair Clarkson (now North Melbourne coach) and Fagan, welfare manager Jason Burt and ex-football administrator Cam Matthews were the other parties involved in the discussions at the commission, each having met the relevant players in an attempt to resolve any differences.
Former Hawthorn employees and now opposition coaches: Clarkson and Fagan, pictured in April last year.Credit: AFL Photos
Hawthorn faced a difficult task to satisfy the First Nations players and partners who had the grievance and the former officials, who had strongly opposed any hint that they acted in a manner that was racist.
The AFL was not involved in the Human Rights Commission hearing, the league having set up a four-member panel to investigate the allegations. The AFL cleared the former Hawthorn officials of any wrongdoing under league rules last year. Hawthorn has not received any official sanction, either.
The Hawks set aside $1.5 million in their 2023 annual report as a potential liability in either settlements or legal fees in the saga.
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