AFL pledges investigation into ‘harrowing and disturbing’ allegations from Hawthorn First Nations players

Hawthorn chief executive Justin Reeves says the “heartbreaking” findings of a review alleging serious mistreatment of First Nations former players came as “a surprise to everyone” who worked for the Hawks at the time.

Reeves fronted the media shortly after the AFL announced it will create an external independent panel to investigate the “challenging, harrowing and disturbing” allegations, including that the club separated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from their families and pressured one couple to terminate a pregnancy.

Hawthorn commissioned the review after former First Nations Hawks star Cyril Rioli made allegations of racist treatment in April, though Reeves said the process “wasn’t an investigation as such”, rather a means of checking the welfare of Indigenous players and staff, past and present.

“I read the report like you guys today, and it is tough reading,” Reeves said. “It is heartbreaking … we are profoundly disappointed that some of our former players and their families feel like this about their experiences at the club.”

Reeves said the club received the final report two weeks ago, but that it was “more complicated” than a case of reacting immediately, given its participants were de-identified. AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the governing body had received the report “about a week ago”.

“We spoke to a really wide range of people who were at the club at that time and it has been a surprise to everyone that I’ve spoken to – the findings of that report,” Reeves said. “Unfortunately we haven’t been able to speak directly to those affected but certainly the people I’ve spoken to [were not aware] of these allegations historically.”

He said this included current head coach Sam Mitchell.

Vice-president Peter Nankivell said president Jeff Kennett, who is currently overseas, was “devastated”. “There is no other word for it,” he said.

The Brisbane Lions announced that head coach Chris Fagan, a former Hawks staffer, would take a leave of absence so he could fully cooperate in the investigation.

North Melbourne then followed suit, issuing a press release to say incoming head coach Alastair Clarkson, who led Hawthorn between 2005 and 2021, would delay the start of his tenure.

McLachlan pledged the AFL would “get to the bottom of it”.

“What we have seen today is a challenging, harrowing and disturbing read,” McLachlan said. “I acknowledge the hurt, the anger and the grief of people who have shared their experiences and told their stories and all of those impacted.

“I want to say to the women and the partners and also the players who have shared their stories that our first priority is to you, and to provide the care and the support that you need. You have been heard, and as a support and a community, we will do our best to wrap our arms around you in support.

“It is important that we continue to communicate with you and to you. Your welfare is the most pressing priority for us because I know that sharing these stories is not easy, but it is important that you do, and we want to thank you all who have shared their experiences as part of this review.”

McLachlan said the AFL would finalise the make-up of the independent panel over the next 24 hours with a view to hastening the process for the welfare of the people reliving the trauma they experienced.

It will be led by a King’s Counsel and others who “have the right mix of diversity and an approach that prioritises cultural safety for all those who have shared their experiences”.

“We need to run a proper investigation to get to the bottom of it and this is important, out of respect for those making the allegations and out of respect for those being accused,” McLachlan said.

“We need to provide natural justice and allow the process to go on, but we will seek to have the panel in place and work with the Hawthorn football club to develop the report of the plays and partners involved to engage with them, to expedite it and not extend the trauma.”

McLachlan said there are no plans to release the report publicly.

“I don’t believe that it is fair for people who have had the courage to come forward on a confidential anonymous basis in this report, to then release it publicly,” he said. “They would be given a commitment it would be confidential. They were given a commitment they would be de-identified. Unless that changes, it’s very difficult to release the report.”

The explosive review, first reported by the ABC, comes some 18 months after the release of Collingwood’s Do Better report, which revealed a systemic culture of racism at the Magpies, and the Hawthorn report is expected to have a similarly large impact.

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, on Wednesday described the allegations as “harrowing”, while former Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge said the news was “a shock to the system”.

The AFL Players’ Association chief executive, Paul Marsh, said the organisation was “extremely concerned” by the allegations, while its president, Geelong midfielder Patrick Dangerfield, labelled them “disturbing”.

“We have spoken to the AFL and communicated our expectations that an independent investigation must be conducted,” Marsh said. “It should also be well-resourced and wide-ranging in scope.”

Marsh said the affected players and partners would “continue to have the full support of the AFLPA through our various programs and services”.

Dangerfield told SEN the allegations at Hawthorn suggested that “we haven’t done our job … as an industry”. “It should never have gotten to this,” he said.

“Players put a lot of faith in the people at football clubs, that they have their best interests at heart and quite clearly football is a part of that, but it shouldn’t ever be just football alone.”