Fallout of Hawthorn racism saga lingers for Alastair Clarkson and those entangled in ugly footy drama
The fallout of the Hawthorn racism saga has claimed 40-year friendships and left those at the heart of the allegations still reeling. Jay Clark investigates.
Alastair Clarkson and David Flood have barely spoken since the eruption of the devastating Hawthorn racism scandal.
The former Hawthorn senior coach and his development coach were in each other’s bridal parties and were best mates since the age of about 10 as they grew up in neighbouring country Victorian towns, Kaniva and Nhill.
But since the Hawthorn racism saga exploded in AFL grand final week of 2022, their 40-year friendship has ceased.
Their wives, Caryn and Melissa, no longer talk as well.
They are two of many lifelong relationships which have been sadly ripped apart by one of the game’s ugliest and most complex episodes.
The falling out between Flood and Clarkson goes back to a reference from Flood likening Hawthorn’s football operations to the “Russian Mafia” in the controversial Hawthorn cultural safety review run by former Tiger Phil Egan.
Flood, who went to kindergarten with Clarkson’s wife, also remains devastated by events and has faced his own vitriol in his home town since the bombshell ABC report dropped alleging Hawthorn ran a racist regime.
But six months after the devastating saga was finally resolved last year, a Herald Sun investigation has discovered Flood has expressed some concerns regarding his part in the racism saga, and in particular the exact context of his “Russian Mafia” reference.
The explosive comments from a non-Indigenous coaching staff member about Hawthorn’s operations were damning for the Hawks’ coaches in September, 2022.
But Flood this week contacted the Hawks in an attempt to speak directly with president Andrew Gowers about the matter.
Flood wants to explain his full truth including allegations he was “frozen out” by the club’s football department including former football boss Mark Evans.
Flood will allege he asked for more support resources for Hawthorn’s Indigenous players from Evans, but soon found himself on the outer.
But the man who worked in development between 2008-12 had not received a call back from the Hawks by the time this story was published.
Remarkably, there has been little communication between the Hawks and Flood since he took part in the Egan report which detonated one of the biggest crisis in the game’s history.
Clarkson, too, remains broken-hearted by the saga and some of the brutal media coverage two-and-a-half years on from Hawthorn’s expose.
Brisbane Lions’ premiership coach Chris Fagan also remains deeply affected by the events triggered by the leaking of the Hawthorn report, and fought back tears about the impact on him in his first interview about the saga with the Herald Sun in September, 2023.
Together, the two premiership coaches alongside former Hawthorn welfare officer Jason Burt and player development manager Cameron Matthews – were accused of leading a racist regime at Waverley through one of the most successful eras in football in 2008-15.
And the quartet – who were largely muzzled by the legal battle in the aftermath – felt it was a severe case of guilty until proven innocent.
Three years on, Clarkson and Co. want closure they feel has never come, and an apology for the procedural flaws they feel ruined a period of their lives.
When the Hawks announced the matter had been resolved out of Federal Court at 6.20pm on November 20 last year – one hour before the AFL’s national draft kicked off – Fagan and Clarkson’s names were not mentioned in the “Walking Together” statement.
There was no acknowledgment of the enormous personal toll it had taken on them, or the fact they had been personally cleared in the twin investigations commissioned by the AFL.
Mediation in the Human Rights Commission failed.
In the end, Hawthorn covered Clarkson and Fagan’s legal costs across the two-and-a-half year nightmare.
But the former Hawthorn coaches and staff remain deeply upset by the torrid affair which saw Clarkson and Fagan both stood down.
Hawthorn resolved matters with the three Indigenous players – Cyril Rioli, Jermaine Miller-Lewis, Carl Peterson and their partners as well as former Indigenous officer Leon Egan – and said it took responsibility for their distress during their time at the club.
“Hawthorn is sorry and apologises that the former players, partners, and their families, in either pursuing a football career, or in supporting such a person, experienced ongoing hurt and distress in their time at the club,” the Hawthorn statement said.
But the ex-Hawthorn coaches still carry deep wounds.
The AFL terminated its independent panel investigation into the matter after announcing no adverse findings against any of the parties in 2023.
The Herald Sun revealed two secret reports commissioned by the AFL into the Hawthorn racism scandal found a “startling lack of evidence”.
The separate reports, authored by retired Federal Court judge Justice John Middleton and top Melbourne law firm Gordon Legal, concluded the allegation an Indigenous player and his partner were pressured to terminate a pregnancy – could not be substantiated.
The hurt and sadness of that particular allegation still cuts Clarkson deeply.
Clarkson, 57, and Fagan, 63, were not interviewed as part of Egan’s initial report into Hawthorn’s treatment of Indigenous players.
The only Indigenous man to play more than 400 AFL games, champion Shaun Burgoyne, challenged the nature of the investigation when he was quizzed by Egan.
Burgoyne remains shocked Indigenous players felt mistreated by Hawthorn officials, and were allegedly urged to cut ties with their families.
“I had no knowledge of those instances ever happening. I was never involved. I was never asked,” Burgoyne said.
It is understood Clarkson has still kept the text messages of support he received from many of his Indigenous premiership heroes in some of the darkest times.
Weeks before Clarkson was appointed new coach at North Melbourne in August 2022, Rioli text messaged Clarkson to explore his chances of a potential comeback under Clarkson at his new club.
In the exchange, Rioli joked about what colours he would be wearing, as GWS, Essendon and the Roos all circled the four-time premiership coach.
Clarkson responded, saying Rioli would have to come down and train for a period if he was going to reignite his AFL career, to show his commitment and fitness levels after retiring four years earlier in 2018.
And when those flames were extinguished, the discussion turned to Rioli possibly coming on board as Indigenous liaison officer at the Roos.
In the end, it all fell over as Rioli decided to remain in the Northern Territory.
But the lead complainant in the Federal Court claim informally inquired about once again playing for the man who was accused of mistreating Indigenous players.
Over the course of the next six months, the weight of the scandal broke Clarkson and had a considerable impact on his family – including his three children.
Clarkson’s mental health had deteriorated significantly.
It was two years last week since Clarkson – flanked by his wife – called a meeting of Kangaroos’ powerbrokers in the bowels of Arden St.
The 20-year senior coach broke down as Clarkson finally revealed his own anguish amid the relentless coverage of the claims which tipped him over the edge on May 17, 2023.
Clarkson first wept in front of the club’s top brass and then in front of the player group and staff as he departed for a two-month break.
Clarkson said he felt like he had let the young Kangaroos down upon his exit as he took off to Queensland for some counselling and respite from the spotlight.
Observers said Clarkson had slowly but surely become a shell of himself over the profound hurt.
And one moment will stay with him forever.
When Clarkson popped into a service station to fill up his car with petrol earlier that year, and the attendant refused to serve him in the wake of the allegations, the distress simply became too much.
It was a hammer blow for someone who had nurtured and coached some of the AFL’s greatest Indigenous players in modern times, including Lance Franklin, Burgoyne, Chance Bateman, Brad Hill and Rioli, as part of the Hawks’ golden reign.
But one claim above all still makes Clarkson deeply emotional — that he urged a player and his partner to terminate their pregnancy.
It is something Clarkson strenuously denies.
“It does take its toll. I found out the hard way,” Clarkson said after taking personal leave in 2023.
Some of Clarkson’s closest friends say it remains “a miracle” he has not been lost to the game and continues to coach at the top level.
There is a view at Arden St in the early days after the scandal broke that he had become overly cautious and mindful of pushing any of the players’ too hard.
It was as if the weight of the allegations had taken the wind out of his sails, and if not sucked some of the life out of his coaching brilliance.
Subsequently, Clarkson’s charges at one point asked to be coached and driven harder.
The players weren’t the ones stepping on eggshells, the senior coach was.
In his third season in charge this year, North Melbourne remained chained to the bottom reaches of the AFL ladder in second-last spot with two wins and a draw from 11 games.
While Hawthorn has vowed to move on from the scandal as it prepares for a fresh start at its new Dingley headquarters, the pain and angst may never leave the accused quartet.
And Clarkson and Flood aren’t the only two best mates who haven’t spoken.
Clarkson also considered Hawks’ football boss Rob McCartney one of his closest family friends before the story exploded.
They played together in their teenage years in the West Wimmera.
And when Graham Wright departed as football manager in 2021, Clarkson helped hand-pick his good mate McCartney to step up after helping develop him in various roles including head of projects and head of development.
But their communication has ceased.
McCartney denied that he had any significant involvement in the Hawthorn report, which has been confimed by the club, but Clarkson thought otherwise.
While the recent Willie Rioli claims again brought the ex-Hawks staffers’ names back into the public conversation about racism, Clarkson and Fagan may never tell their stories in full after the out-of-court settlements.
All four former Hawthorn officials have vehemently denied any wrongdoing in one of the most difficult and complex chapters in the game’s history.
“I have made no concessions. There are none to make … I have done nothing wrong,” Fagan said.
But in 2023 amid the intense fallout, Fagan didn’t leave his house during daylight hours due to the “bewilderment” and “uncertainty” he felt over the claims.
Fagan and Clarkson were both told to stand down by their clubs at the peak of the scandal in September 2022.
But last Saturday the script had certainly flipped as Fagan coached his 200th AFL game in the win over the Hawks and was cheered off the ground by his players.
It has been said the significance of the milestone match against Fagan’s former club was not lost on any of his Lions’ players last weekend, after taking out last year’s premiership.
Gun premiership forward Charlie Cameron said: “I appreciate him (Fagan) a lot. He got me here from Adelaide and he has let me, I guess, be myself out here,” Cameron said.
But the relationship between the two former Hawthorn coaches and their old club remains strained.
In one month – on Saturday, June 28 in Launceston – Clarkson’s Kangas take on the Hawks.
It will be a challenging day for senior figures from both camps.
Clarkson took the first steps towards some sort of peace with the Hawks last month when he took part in the 100-year celebration game at the MCG alongside Jordan Lewis and Jarryd Roughead.
Wearing a brown and gold scarf, Clarkson received arguably the loudest cheer of the day from the club’s fan base.
However, it was not an easy day for Clarkson, who in May 2023 blew up in a press conference about Hawthorn’s “shameful conduct” handling the initial investigation.
“The damage is done, reputations have been scarred and we’ve got to somehow just claw our reputations back through this whole process,” Clarkson said.
“The game is shamed, obviously myself, ‘Fages’ (Fagan) and Jason and our families have been shamed.
“The procedural fairness offered to myself, ‘Fages’ and Jason has been next to zero and that’s particularly frustrating.
“And all we want is a fair platform to be able to do that. Once we get that opportunity, then we’ll let the judge decide.”
That day has never come. And neither has the closure.
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