MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MAY 12: Alastair Clarkson, Senior Coach of the Hawks addresses his players during the 2019 AFL round 08 match between the Hawthorn Hawks and the GWS Giants at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on May 12, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos)
Hawthorn remains committed to resolving the prolonged racism saga after the Human Rights Commission dismissed a claim by former Hawks First Nations players and their partners.
The commission terminated the case, citing little chance of an agreement between the Hawks, former staff including Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan, and the ex-players.
The players, led by four-time premiership star Cyril Rioli, and their partners now have 60 days to escalate the matter to the Federal Court.
“As we have always said, we would like to see this matter resolved fairly and quickly for everyone involved,” Hawthorn president Andy Gowers said on Monday.
“We have engaged with the [Human Rights Commission] process in good faith and made multiple attempts to resolve the matter with all parties. It is unfortunate that this was not possible via this process. However, we remain committed to, and will work towards, having the matter resolved.”
Former Hawthorn coach Clarkson and ex-football boss Fagan met with the complainants in March for the first time since allegations were made public in September 2022. Both Clarkson, now coaching North Melbourne, and Fagan, currently with the Brisbane Lions, have denied any wrongdoing.
The AFL previously stated there would be no adverse findings against Clarkson, Fagan, or former Hawks welfare boss Jason Burt from an independent panel investigating the racism claims from 2008 to 2016.
Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett called the commission’s decision the “correct outcome,” suggesting all claims should be tested in court rather than through mediation.
Melbourne captain Max Gawn revealed that coach Simon Goodwin had initially decided to pull him from the round-11 clash with St Kilda before Gawn convinced him otherwise.
Gawn delivered a dominant performance against the Saints on Sunday, with 34 hit-outs, 27 disposals, 10 clearances, seven marks, and a goal, leading to a 38-point victory that lifted the Demons back into the AFL’s top four.
Gawn nearly missed the game after waking up with a sore calf from a previous week’s corked leg. He passed a fitness test with high-performance boss Selwyn Griffith an hour before the match.
“In my head, I was playing no matter what – so I didn’t understand what the hysteria was,” Gawn told Triple M Melbourne on Monday.
“But then I worked out I wasn’t playing, so that’s what the hysteria was. Goody had made the decision that he wasn’t going to risk me.”
Even after passing the fitness test, Gawn had to reassure Goodwin in the locker room before the match.
“He comes right up in my face, like nose-to-nose sort of stuff, and he goes, ‘Are you ready to perform?’. I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m ready to get out of here’. And he goes, ‘No, no, no. Are you ready to perform?’. That’s all I heard in the first 10 minutes (of the game); in the back of my head was Goody, ‘Are you ready to perform?’.”
