Mark Robinson reveals war of words with Alastair Clarkson

IT’S safe to say Alastair Clarkson and journalist Mark Robinson won’t be swapping Christmas cards after an explosive exchange at the weekend.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson.

JUST when you thought Alastair Clarkson had enough on his plate, the Hawthorn coach has again found the headlines — this time due to a heated exchange with leading AFL journalist Mark Robinson.

Clarkson has been firmly placed under the blowtorch in recent weeks due to his sides’ stunning fall down the AFL ladder, and now journalist Mark Robinson claims he was abused by the Hawthorn coach at the weekend.

Clarkson reportedly took Robinson to task after a mix-up resulted in misinformation being reported in The Herald Sun.

Robinson filed a story in which he stated the Hawthorn coach didn’t return his calls, only for Clarkson to phone him for the first time in four years, after the journalist had already submitted his story for publication.

Herald Sun's Mark Robinson.

The AFL journalist filed a corrected version, however this updated copy did not make the print edition of Saturday’s Herald Sun due to a human error.

The correct version did appear on the Herald Sun’s website, but that did not stop the Hawthorn coach from ripping into Robinson via text the next day.

“My phone started going nuts,” Robinson told SEN on Monday.

“Clarkson abused me, called me a liar and whatever else he wants to call me. Then I get a text message off him calling me a certain name, which was not good.

“I explained to him what happened via long text and then he abused me again.”

While Robinson admitted it was an unfortunate mistake, he said the publication had attempted to immediately rectify the situation, as well as reach out to the Hawthorn coach. But those attempts have fallen on deaf ears.

“I don’t know what goes on at Hawthorn, but when the online version goes on Friday night surely the media department speak to Clarkson, or are they scared of him? — Or does Clarkson not speak to the media department.

“The right story went online, it was human error. It was a simple error, but a big error.”

Clarkson used a weekend media conference to take aim at Robinson and fellow AFL reporter Jon Ralph, as examples of what he feels is the AFL media showing “no accountability” for printing what he feels is misinformation.

“That’s really, really poor reporting, because half the article is factually incorrect,” Clarkson told reporters.

“That’s what I’m saying about the hysteria around the game — it’s a lot greater outside the game.

“We just roll up our sleeves and get to work inside the footy club, and understand that all the noise out there is really just to sell newspapers. It’s just a game for the journalists.”

While Clarkson was doing his best to deflect, Robinson said the strain of Hawthorn’s recent struggles is clearly having an impact on the embattled coach.

“He’s a bit unhinged, he’s going off at everyone,” Robinson said.

“He wasn’t happy so he sent out some text messages. Even when you explain what happened he didn’t want a bar of it. It was real pig-headed, just going on the attack.”

Gerard Whateley & Mark Robinson on the AFL 360 set.

Robinson does not intend on trying to manage a relationship with the AFL coach, despite his role as a leading journalist in the game and a fixture on the popular AFL 360 program.

“I have no interest in talking to Alastair Clarkson again,” Robinson said.

“Why should you speak to someone, just because you’re an AFL coach, that abuses you via text.

“And when you correct it and try to tell you what happened, he still abuses you. He knows it’s not your fault, so what sort of person is that?

“Seriously, I wouldn’t want to be making a mistake out at the Hawthorn Football Club.”

It’s not the first feud Robinson has found himself in over the years as an AFL journalist and his running battle with Clarkson may have another twist yet.

“He’ll probably be upset about me talking about this,” Robinson stated.

Originally published as Mark Robinson reveals war of words with Alastair Clarkson