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Hawthorn have returned serve against the group of Indigenous ex-players and their partners who made bombshell accusations of racism against Chris Fagan and Alastair Clarkson.
The club has claimed, as part of its legal defence which was released on Thursday by the Federal Court, that one of the former players, Carl Peterson, was withdrawn from the 2010 elimination final team to play Fremantle due to marijuana use in the week before the match, which the Hawks were informed of via his partner Nikita Rotumah.
Shortly after, in October 2010, the then-23 year old, who had played 17 matches for the year including the last three rounds of the home-and-away season, was delisted.
In a separate incident, they allege Peterson was ‘incoherent’, appeared to be ‘affected by alcohol or illicit substances’ when picked up at Melbourne Airport by former development coach David Flood in mid-2009, having returned to Perth due to his grandfather’s illness.
According to the defence, Peterson also told Flood he had lost his clothing and had nothing in his bank account.
Ex-Hawthorn player Carl Peterson. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
The defence states Peterson, who has accused Clarkson of telling him and Rotumah to break up and to terminate their pregnancy, was recruited despite ‘concerns relating to his drug use and his failure of a voluntary drug test in or around that time’ at the end of 2008, which the Hawks claim caused him to be delisted by Richmond.
Hawthorn have also rejected Peterson’s accusation against Clarkson, saying he, as well as Fagan and former player welfare manager Jason Burt only found out about his partner’s pregnancy in late July or early August, with the alleged meeting taking place before that.
The club allege that former great Cyril Rioli, another of the ex-Hawks at the centre of the court case, had signed a deed of release preventing him from taking Federal Court action at the time of his retirement in 2018.
They also argue Rioli’s claim Clarkson nicknamed him ‘Humphrey B Bear’ was not a racist taunt, but rather due to him being quiet off the field.
The Hawks describe the suit, which features claims from the players they suffered psychological trauma and loss of earnings due to the club’s negligence, as ‘an abuse of process’, with the accusations against Clarkson, Fagan and Burt ‘vague and embarrassing’.
Since the bombshell allegations against Clarkson, Fagan and Burt were first made public by the ABC in 2022, the Hawthorn racism scandal has proved a long and controversial process.
Both Clarkson and Fagan were briefly stood down by North Melbourne and Brisbane respectively immediately following the reports, while Clarkson took indefinite leave from the Kangaroos in mid-2023 due to stress.
An AFL investigation launched in September 2022 found no evidence of wrongdoing against the trio, while the Federal Court case was launched after a Human Rights Commission case was terminated in May when the parties could not agree to terms.
The Federal Court is expected to hear the case in mid-2025.
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