Hawthorn racism review: Allegations expose footy’s dark underbelly, writes Mark Robinson

No one was punished by the AFL after revelations of racism at Collingwood and on Adelaide’s camp. If the Hawthorn allegations are true, this time has to be different, writes Mark Robinson.

Former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson. Picture: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

If true, Alastair Clarkson should resign from North Melbourne and never hold a position in football again.

The same for Chris Fagan.

They have both agreed to be stood down amid an independent AFL-endorsed investigation.

The disturbing allegations — and depth of detail in the allegations — about an Indigenous player being told his partner should have an abortion is harrowing to the point of utter disbelief.

This is football. A sport. Entertainment for the masses.

Not a sports school of dark arts.

If true, these allegations expose a disturbing underbelly in professional football, where tyrannical leaders believe they have the power to determine life and death.

I’m not sure there’s been a more distressing headline on an AFL story than the one on the Herald Sun website on Wednesday. It read: Hawks racism review: ‘He told me to kill my unborn child.’

The flinch reaction is not to believe it’s true.

You don’t want to believe it’s true.

To demand an abortion to aid a player’s career? It’s beyond comprehension.

There are other allegations, about how the Hawks tried to separate players from their partners and families via breaking down their communication.

About how one young player tried to commit suicide after leaving the club.

And about how one young woman called the club to pass on a message to a player that she had had a miscarriage – because she couldn’t contact him.

They are equally alarming.

Former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson was named in explosive allegations about Hawthorn’s treatment of Indigenous players. Picture: Michael Dodge/AFL Media/Getty Images

The alleged revelations, first revealed by the ABC, puts a dagger through the grand final week build-up and celebration.

The men central to the allegations – Clarkson and Fagan – are decent people, family loving people.

Yeah, they are determined and driven, but these allegations will rock them to their core.

There will be context and/or denials, but – if true – I’m not sure there’s any imaginable context that places human life above playing football.

The AFL had no choice other than to agree the two coaches should to be stood down, notwithstanding that they are innocent until proven guilty.

Fagan was first. He was said to be shattered and it’s understood his straight-up defence will be that he wasn’t in any meeting about an abortion.

Later in the day the Kangaroos said Clarkson won’t start his new role until the investigation is complete.

The four-time premiership coach has vehemently denied the allegations.

The question is: Will they ever return?

The Hawthorn report has shocked the footy world. Picture: AAP Image/David Crosling

What if half is true, or 30 per cent is true? Do Clarkson and Fagan need complete exoneration to resume their coaching careers?

Already, their names are besmirched because of the allegation. Mud sticks. It’s the utterly unfair component of dealing with allegations, that the allegation can never be publicly withdrawn.

Let’s hope no lies are being told – from all parties.

At present, the Hawks investigation was a truth-telling exercise by Indigenous players and partners, and a response was not sought by others.

Clarkson and Fagan will give their version to the AFL.

How wide does this story affect people involved at Hawthorn through the years, like Stuart Fox, who was CEO through the flag years, or Andrew Newbold, the president who is now an AFL commissioner, or Mark Evans, who was head of football.

There were plenty of good people at the Hawks, but what else is in this report?

The AFL was quick to announce the independent investigation, but not quick enough to beat the ABC’s Russell Jackson breaking the story on Wednesday morning.

A complex story, the AFL received the Hawks report in the past week and set about putting the appropriate processes in place.

That, or they wanted to hold on to it until after the grand final.

That is tin tacks because these allegations have the capacity to destroy the reputations of respected individuals, a footy club and the AFL.

Make no mistake, this is a time for action from the AFL. Not words. Not promises. Not backslapping about how inclusive football is.

Alastair Clarkson has denied the allegations. Picture: Daniel Pockett/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

These allegations, if true, are yet another example of the intergenerational trauma suffered by Indigenous players.

Eddie Betts revealed the horrors of the Adelaide camp where white people told black people how to think, what to say and banned them from the leadership program.

It was the master-slave scenario.

The allegations at Hawthorn can be similarly framed, but are much worse. A white boss allegedly telling a black man he shouldn’t have a child.

There was also the well-documented racism at Collingwood.

In both those situations, at the Crows and the Pies, no one was punished by the AFL.

In this case, and if the allegations are true, the AFL must finally take a stand on racism. A real stand. Punishment and condemnation.

Because not only is the whole football world looking at the AFL, so too, is the sporting world.

This story will sweep the globe, just as the Essendon supplement saga did.

But this is much worse.

That was about needles. This is about killing an unborn child, as the player described it.

If true, the legacies of high-profile people will be destroyed forever.

Originally published as Hawthorn racism review: Allegations expose footy’s dark underbelly, writes Mark Robinson