Coach Alastair Clarkson III - new NMFC senior coach until at least end 2027 - NMFC board approved AC to start 1/11 amid ongoing HFC racism investigation

[teethmeetsflesh]

I have less concern for clarko if this tweet is any indication of how this man operates as a journalist lol

 

[DuckYeah]

I have less concern for clarko if this tweet is any indication of how this man operates as a journalist lol

He’s not a journalist.

 

[Shermanator]

I have less concern for clarko if this tweet is any indication of how this man operates as a journalist lol

I have no concern for Clarko, it’s a farce.

 

[Makeshift Park]

This blew up on Twitter tonight and Im surprised it’s only just made it to BF.

There has been a parallel conversation going on in the Sonja thread mate.

 

[The Warlord]

There has been a parallel conversation going on in the Sonja thread mate.

I can't find said thread

 

[Samsquanch]

That's one way to throw your reputation and credibility in the bin. If you're on the attack in a situation where it isn't necessary, you're scared. What reason does he have to be scared? Not the behaviour of a bloke who knows that his info consists of cold, hard facts. And that's quite apart from the fact that Sonja does not in the least deserve to be slandered like that

Speaking of reputation, Jackson has attacked Sonja's reputation by using the words he chose in that tweet. Her reputation is critical to her employment and community standing. Jackson seems to be asking for a fight.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

I can't find said thread

You’ll have to show ignored content - worked for me.

 

[Makeshift Park]

I can't find said thread

It took me a minute to figure out why that thread kept disappearing for me too.

 

[Devington]

It took me a minute to figure out why that thread kept disappearing for me too.

I'm actually surprised there isn't a setting in account preferences regarding this. Seems like a potential oversight. Posts are one thing, but losing the content of entire threads is another.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

I'm actually surprised there isn't a setting in account preferences regarding this. Seems like a potential oversight. Posts are one thing, but losing the content of entire threads is another.

100% agree. Generally to get added to my ignore list, posters have to be prolific enough to be hard to tolerate, and I’ve found people on my list start a lot of threads that have other good content in them. It’s a pain to have to keep clicking the button on the main page every time.

 

[Makeshift Park]

King Corey Flawed Genius The Filth Wizard Twinkletoes

any chance we could get all the posts in the Sonja thread copied across to a new thread created by one of you? (I’m hoping the system doesn’t require you to select each post manually)

 

[BigRedRoo]

Haha, Rusty is getting slaughtered in the comments....

No Suprise, poor old Rusty got all pissy when Eddie everywhere spoke the truth and said he wasn't a real journo.

 

[The Warlord]

No Suprise, poor old Rusty got all pissy when Eddie everywhere spoke the truth and said he wasn't a real journo.

He's self taught!!!!!

 

[berniemccarthy]

He's self taught!!!!!

That should not be a criticism. You may not like what he is doing now because of the implications for North but that does not detract from a range of important and delicate issues that he has covered empathetically and with no assistance form the clubs that were implicated. He did not cover himself in glory last night and I took him to task over it but I have sympathy as he is the hate target of everyone wishing to shoot the messenger.

 

[Heaps of fun]

That should not be a criticism. You may not like what he is doing now because of the implications for North but that does not detract from a range of important and delicate issues that he has covered empathetically and with no assistance form the clubs that were implicated. He did not cover himself in glory last night and I took him to task over it but I have sympathy as he is the hate target of everyone wishing to shoot the messenger.

The thing about being a self-taught journalist is you might have missed a couple of important journalistic process and ethics assignments.

 

[Devington]

That should not be a criticism. You may not like what he is doing now because of the implications for North but that does not detract from a range of important and delicate issues that he has covered empathetically and with no assistance form the clubs that were implicated. He did not cover himself in glory last night and I took him to task over it but I have sympathy as he is the hate target of everyone wishing to shoot the messenger.

Without sounding too cruel or dismissive of him, I think he might just have to stick to truly historical incidents if this is how he reacts when he touches a live fire. Might also want to cut back on the red wine if last night is any indication. Being drunk is probably the best excuse, because most of the other reasons I could think of reflect really poorly on the guy. Even if he was drunk though, the stubbornness and rudeness when confronted with good willed replies (more understandable in response to some of the nasty stuff of course) was really, really poor. Type of thing where he really should make an apology, even if he stands by his original point (which he shouldn't).

 

[Ashley B]

would go well with this song

 

[Merlin007]

A fight is brewing between the AFL and the coaches at the centre of the racism allegations at Hawthorn, as concerns mount over how the probe will be conducted.

AFL: The league has appointed an independent four person panel to investigate the bombshell racism claims surrounding Hawthorn.
Exclusive: The AFL has insisted senior coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan will be given “a fair hearing” amid growing concerns over how its probe into explosive racism allegations at Hawthorn will be conducted.


The North Melbourne and Brisbane coaches reacted angrily when they were presented with the first draft of the terms of reference for the investigation late last week.
There were serious concerns from Clarkson’s camp that the four-time premiership coach would be denied natural justice.
Clarkson has been frustrated with the process and has been considering a bid to start work as Kangaroos coach as planned on November 1.
Fagan was also looking at abandoning his self-imposed exile from Brisbane as early as next week.
Lawyers for Clarkson and Fagan, who vehemently deny all allegations against them, have pushed back against the league’s proposed process.
They believed the Bernard Quinn, KC, led process would involve forced apologies and the payment of compensation to their accusers.
But the AFL insisted on Friday that its process would be fair and that natural justice – a legal term that means a process was fair to all parties – would be respected.
“It is an absolute priority for the AFL that all participants in the process receive a fair hearing and natural justice and the AFL continues to work with all parties on the final Terms of Reference document that will form the foundation of the independent investigation,” the league said in a statement.
“All participants have provided feedback to the initial draft of the Terms of Reference document and we are pleased that all are still talking to us in a constructive way.”

Former Hawthorn coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan have denied claims against them. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Media
The AFL added that it had not been advised that Clarkson was planning to start work in November as scheduled.
“As they separately communicated in late September, Chris Fagan has taken a leave of absence from the Brisbane Lions in order to fully co-operate with the independent investigation and Alistair Clarkson was due to commence work with North Melbourne on November 1 however has said he would delay the start of his tenure to allow time to fully participate in the investigation,” the league said.
It comes as North Melbourne president Dr Sonja Hood said on Friday that the Kangaroos had been “damaged” by the probe into accusations against Clarkson.
“As we await further details on the process, we are taking an active role in liaising with the AFL and our incoming coach Alastair Clarkson on the details of his commencement with the club,” she wrote in a letter to members.
“Although we can’t comment on the allegations or the AFL’s process, it’s important to note that the way events have unfolded over the past fortnight has created damage for our club and our people – our players (Indigenous and non-Indigenous), our staff, our members, and of course Alastair himself.”

North Melbourne president Dr Sonja Hood faced the media at Arden Street with Alastair Clarkson in August. Picture: Michael Klein
Top lawyer Peter Gordon has been engaged by the AFL to work on the investigation.
His team sent detailed terms of reference late last week, which prompted a blistering response from lawyers for Clarkson and Fagan.
The AFL has since redrafted the terms of reference, but they were not finalised by Friday afternoon.
The league was still planning to complete the investigation by December.
The AFL sought feedback from the pair after a four-person panel was appointed to investigate racism claims at Hawthorn.
The claims included Indigenous players were isolated from their families, told where to live and that Clarkson told one player to get his partner to have an abortion.
Clarkson has strenuously denied that claim.
It comes after the Herald Sun revealed on Thursday that Hawthorn had offered the Indigenous families at the centre of the scandal a chance for mediation.
The club process could include apologies and compensation payments separate to the AFL probe.

So in years to come, this case could become a textbook of legal tactics.

By leaving the country (as of course he's entitled to do), Clarkson is chewing up time until 1 Nov, with ToR still to be agreed. He's thereby basically absenting himself from the reach of the review, obviously with Hood metaphorically next to him saying North expect him to start.

I'm reading this as the Clarkson team (now unequivocally incl. Hood) putting the ball in the AFL court, possibly with a view to getting the matter into the courts rather than an AFL inquiry. Entirely my guess, but I'm assuming Clarkson's lawyers know that the AFL can't allow him to start on 1 Nov with unresolved allegations of this magnitude (if it was, for example, an umpire, would they be allowed to officiate until the matter was resolved? Unlikely). So the Clarkson legal team are basically daring the AFL to suspend him on 1 Nov, at which point they might conceivably seek injunctive relief on the grounds that Clarkson has been denied natural justice. At that point, the nature of the allegations will have to be something more substantial than redacted editions of the Egan review, and if the press reports suggesting the complainants wanted the opportunity to cross-exam are correct, the complainants might get their wish in way they didn't anticipate.

Noting that Hood is clearly in on the Clarkson strategy, I have never seen North, as a small club dependent on the AFL, stand up to AFL House in this way - and thanks to our first female President, let it be noted.

Quite where it now lands is hard to see, because it is headed toward a triangular dispute, with Clarkson in dispute with the AFL as well as the complainants.

Just in passing, not surprised the Clarkson team have rejected the ToR, if only because the dates are clearly concocted to keep Kennett safe. The attempt to confine the review to 2008-2016 neatly excluded Kennett's behaviour at Launceston in 2018 that kicked the whole thing off, and the Egan review mysteriously had nothing to say about the incident which initiated the thing in the first place. This mystery deepens when you consider Egan concluded everything at Hawthorn was now culturally safe, even though Rioli and his wife, who made the first public complaint, have said throughout 2021-22 that they would have nothing to do with Hawthorn.

The plot thickens.

 

[sutcliffe's hotel]

That should not be a criticism. You may not like what he is doing now because of the implications for North but that does not detract from a range of important and delicate issues that he has covered empathetically and with no assistance form the clubs that were implicated. He did not cover himself in glory last night and I took him to task over it but I have sympathy as he is the hate target of everyone wishing to shoot the messenger.

I think one of the tricky aspects of "advocacy" journalism is that your blinkers usually mean you need to see an imagined perfection in everyone else, that naturally you are unable to demonstrate in your own behaviour.

Really effective advocates never make themselves the story.

 

[berniemccarthy]

Without sounding too cruel or dismissive of him, I think he might just have to stick to truly historical incidents if this is how he reacts when he touches a live fire. Might also want to cut back on the red wine if last night is any indication. Being drunk is probably the best excuse, because most of the other reasons I could think of reflect really poorly on the guy. Even if he was drunk though, the stubbornness and rudeness when confronted with good willed replies (more understandable in response to some of the nasty stuff of course) was really, really poor. Type of thing where he really should make an apology, even if he stands by his original point (which he shouldn't).

Which is why he didn’t cover himself in glory. I had a long conversation with him where he was rude and argumentative completely unnecessarily. That was disappointing. But he is getting a mega amount of angst and abuse. No winners here.

 

[berniemccarthy]

I think one of the tricky aspects of "advocacy" journalism is that your blinkers usually mean you need to see an imagined perfection in everyone else, that naturally you are unable to demonstrate in your own behaviour.

Really effective advocates never make themselves the story.

Agree that was interesting. He should be reporting the criticism. Instead he is now advocating for them. So that independent position has now been lost. I was tempted to say you are making it about yourself but thought that was probably a bridge too far. He is invested because he believes. Whether that is a foolish investment will be seen later on. I hope it’s found he has been misled.

 

[kool kangas]

Sounding like Clarko and Fagan are saying ' stuff it' l'm heading back to work...

 

[El Capuano]

 

[Merlin007]

for people who make a living with words, journalists are remarkably imprecise at times; 'earlier' than what? It can't be earlier than 1 Nov, because he's contracted to Hawthorn, so what's the date being referred to?

 

[sutcliffe's hotel]

Agree that was interesting. He should be reporting the criticism. Instead he is now advocating for them. So that independent position has now been lost. I was tempted to say you are making it about yourself but thought that was probably a bridge too far. He is invested because he believes. Whether that is a foolish investment will be seen later on. I hope it’s found he has been misled.

I've worked in spaces where we believe lived experience & act accordingly. I have also worked in spaces where we believe lived experience and then asked how do we prove this to be true to fight for justice?

The challenge with the latter is that you are invariably advocating within systems that deny lived experiences and view them with disdain. Seeking justice in a legal system is hard.

So I get Rusty's investment in the lived experience & how only seeing everything through that lens leads to a myopic view of the reality, such as Sonja's statement.