Am i the only one who thinks its a bit ordinary..?

[Nightwolf]

Almost disgusting from Clarkson for bagging out Williams and basically licking the asshole of an asshole for no obvious reason. You dont hang your players out to dry.

Where has all this nice guy crap come from? Campbell Brown helping Judd, Clarkson all over Williams, Mitchell wanting to help out Burgoyne if possible. I dont know about you, but seriously, stuff them. Bugger respect. I want hatred. We were stamped on, laughed at for years, especially from that Port Power club, we dont owe them anything. Anyone anything.

Something along the lines of "Look it wasnt great from Willo, but we've had a chat to him and sorted it out and he understands where we stand".

Much better reaction that one..

[Gene Simmons]

Almost disgusting from Clarkson for bagging out Williams and basically licking the asshole of an asshole for no obvious reason. You dont hang your players out to dry.

Where has all this nice guy crap come from? Campbell Brown helping Judd, Clarkson all over Williams, Mitchell wanting to help out Burgoyne if possible. I dont know about you, but seriously, stuff them. Bugger respect. I want hatred. We were stamped on, laughed at for years, especially from that Port Power club, we dont owe them anything. Anyone anything.

Something along the lines of "Look it wasnt great from Willo, but we've had a chat to him and sorted it out and he understands where we stand".

Much better reaction that one..

Clarkson just wanted to make sure that this type of behaviour doesn't filter through the club. Last thing we want is one of our players carrying on like that during a final (ala Port last years Prelim and we saw what happened a week later & the backlash the club received from the football community)

Clarkson's reaction was extreme.. But sometimes thats the most effective way to drill home a message.

[#6 Mark Williams]

Umph! Whats done is done, Clarko said what he said and Willo did what he did! I wish it turned out differently but yeah, Willo is far from getting himself directed to the exit door, at least another 3 misdemeanours before they'd even consider terminating his contract.

[RustyHawk]

No cannot agree Nightwolf.

Correct decision by the coach.

Several reasons

First: Major unwanted distraction
The story up to the time Williams did a Williams was Hawthorn's great comeback from behind.

Once Willo did his act that changed and Clarko would have known this incident will be played and replayed and discussed over and over for the next 5 days.

Its a distraction that he doesnt want. It brings unwanted spotlight on a club that is just quietly going about its business.

Second: Respect
It was an insult directed directly at someone who for better or worse is one of only 16 men to currently hold a position of an AFL senior coach. Clarko knows how hard it is to get there, to win a premiership, to keep your job, the luck needed to get the job and the great talent of former players who never ever get that opportunity.

You go like with like. Bag another player on the field and they can respond. Bagging a senior AFL coach is not the right of a mid ranking AFL player.

If Clarko didnt respond it would or could be seen as condoning the action.

Third: What goes around, comes around.
Imagine next time we play PA and a PA player shows disrepect to Clarko what are our boys going to do? Let is slide or go in and beat the utter crap out of that player. I would like to think the second however the suspensions that would follow wouldnt be worth it.

We dont need it and cannot lead to anything good.

I say Good on Clarko for taking immediate action.

[yellowbrown]

Almost disgusting from Clarkson for bagging out Williams and basically licking the asshole of an asshole for no obvious reason. You dont hang your players out to dry.

Where has all this nice guy crap come from? Campbell Brown helping Judd, Clarkson all over Williams, Mitchell wanting to help out Burgoyne if possible. I dont know about you, but seriously, stuff them. Bugger respect. I want hatred. We were stamped on, laughed at for years, especially from that Port Power club, we dont owe them anything. Anyone anything.

Something along the lines of "Look it wasnt great from Willo, but we've had a chat to him and sorted it out and he understands where we stand".

Much better reaction that one..
hello. this issue has prompted me to join BF tho i cant start threads so have been waiting for someone else to. i fully agree with the above comments.

i reckon willo has been treated pretty poorly. its not like he sledged a hawthorn teammate or something. plenty of players after kicking goals, run past and rub it into their opponents - no one whinges then.

i mean port did choke, especially since we were one down with guerra. sure they have won premiership recently, but that doesnt mean we cant give it to them.

[Roughie]

Even Sheehan said it was an overeaction now that is saying something

[lickmerocks]

Ok heres the way it should of happened.

Willow goes into the rooms and sits with Clarko and Clarko says "mate we need some damage control and need it fast and this is your story...

You were having a bad day and you had missed an earlier shot that you should of kicked and you were gesturing towards yourself for not choking on that last kick like you had earlier...

or

The crowd was yelling over the fence about me being a choker when i was lining up etcetc and when i dobbed it i gestured more towards them for a bit of a laugh...end of story.

Not sure we would still be discussing this if we managed it properly.

[hawks forever]

Even Sheehan said it was an overeaction now that is saying something

had to lol though both healy and wallsy both said that clarkson had done the right thing but then couldnt concur as to why. These are men who are leading journo's.

[Mervyn Beasley]

No cannot agree Nightwolf.

Correct decision by the coach.

Several reasons

First: Major unwanted distraction
The story up to the time Williams did a Williams was Hawthorn's great comeback from behind.

Once Willo did his act that changed and Clarko would have known this incident will be played and replayed and discussed over and over for the next 5 days.

Its a distraction that he doesnt want. It brings unwanted spotlight on a club that is just quietly going about its business.

Second: Respect
It was an insult directed directly at someone who for better or worse is one of only 16 men to currently hold a position of an AFL senior coach. Clarko knows how hard it is to get there, to win a premiership, to keep your job, the luck needed to get the job and the great talent of former players who never ever get that opportunity.

You go like with like. Bag another player on the field and they can respond. Bagging a senior AFL coach is not the right of a mid ranking AFL player.

If Clarko didnt respond it would or could be seen as condoning the action.

Third: What goes around, comes around.
Imagine next time we play PA and a PA player shows disrepect to Clarko what are our boys going to do? Let is slide or go in and beat the utter crap out of that player. I would like to think the second however the suspensions that would follow wouldnt be worth it.

We dont need it and cannot lead to anything good.

I say Good on Clarko for taking immediate action.
Sorry Rusty but I think this incident has only been given so much print and airtime due to Clarko's extraordinary response.
He could have easily gotten his message well and truly thru in private and made a more low key statement in public.

[Pessimistic]

Just imagine if hed used 'exit door' and "buddy franklin' in the same sentence !

[macdaddio]

Sorry Rusty but I think this incident has only been given so much print and airtime due to Clarko's extraordinary response.
He could have easily gotten his message well and truly thru in private and made a more low key statement in public.


i think clarkos bit worried that other teams will think we are too cocky and especialy port it will give them some extra motivation when they meet us again..

but in all honestly willo has done nothing wrong, he never gets suspened or reported goes about his buisness and whos to say that those port pricks wernt egging him on and sledging him, because he hadnt done anything all day...

more talk should have been about burgoyne,s ko on mitchell, did you see his head colapse after he got hit it reminded me of one of roy jones jr ko,s in boxing..

burgoyne knew were he was going mre talk should be about his act.....

[cuttlefish]

I reckon Clarkson needed to make a stand. The team don't need distractions from their footy. They need to maintain focus, and unneccessary media attention is a huge distraction to the team.
Look at Fevola. As much as we love watching him play, he'd have been a nightmare to play alongside because he draws unnecessary scrutiny to the club.
Hawks are running a tight ship right now. No need for Willow to draw unwarranted attention to the club culture. God knows what the media can dredge up (true or not)

[Mervyn Beasley]

I reckon Clarkson needed to make a stand. The team don't need distractions from their footy. They need to maintain focus, and unneccessary media attention is a huge distraction to the team.
Look at Fevola. As much as we love watching him play, he'd have been a nightmare to play alongside because he draws unnecessary scrutiny to the club.
Hawks are running a tight ship right now. No need for Willow to draw unwarranted attention to the club culture. God knows what the media can dredge up (true or not)
But I seriously think the unwarranted attention came from Clarkos over the top response.
I agree with all Clarko said but he went too far and has thus whipped the media into a frenzy. Friend of mine works in it, and told me 1st thing sunday morning that it will be the issue of the week and mostly due to Clarko doing what he did.

[Brown Blood]

But I seriously think the unwarranted attention came from Clarkos over the top response.
I agree with all Clarko said but he went too far and has thus whipped the media into a frenzy. Friend of mine works in it, and told me 1st thing sunday morning that it will be the issue of the week and mostly due to Clarko doing what he did.

I think clarko realised it would be used by some in the media (i.e. carro & sheehan) as another reason to have a go at the club for showing bad sportsmanship & discipline & so take away from what was really a great win.

Clarko's comments before his press conference was IMO a stroke of genius (he really is learning to use the media now rather than the opposite) and instead has turned what could have been a potential PR disaster for the club (over this week) into a winner by showing the club will not tolerate any individuals who exhibit poor behaviour (inc. towards towards the opposition).

[cschreuder61]

Agree with Rusty.

I think Clarkson may have gone a little over the top when say "best way to be shown the door", but he obviously wanted to make it absolutely clear that this wasn't acceptable at the club.

Rioli imitating Williams after the game in the change rooms is an example of why Clarkson would have hated it, Williams is a role model to him, and he put a selfish act of showmanship in front of the team, and Clarkson is all about team, and not for ones self.

I personally found it pretty funny and am glad for Port to cop it, but also very satisified that Clarkson has put his foot down and taken control of the situation.

[hawks forever]

Agree with Rusty.

I think Clarkson may have gone a little over the top when say "best way to be shown the door", but he obviously wanted to make it absolutely clear that this wasn't acceptable at the club.

Rioli imitating Williams after the game in the change rooms is an example of why Clarkson would have hated it, Williams is a role model to him, and he put a selfish act of showmanship in front of the team, and Clarkson is all about team, and not for ones self.

I personally found it pretty funny and am glad for Port to cop it, but also very satisified that Clarkson has put his foot down and taken control of the situation.

I found it funny but thought clarkson had to make a stand, went over the top with his comments on being shown the door. Players at hawthorn and other clubs have made far bigger blunders and not been shown the door.He made the incident more of a spectacle than it otherwise would have been, had he stayed silent on it and let it ride its course. As it stands it will be a talking point for the rest of the week.

[cuttlefish]

I think Clarkson made a big issue out of it to make sure the players know never to do anything like that again. I think he's nipping what could be a sign of poor club culture in the bud. Sure he had to raise his voice, but he's warned the players in a sense. Even though what Willo did was quite funny at the time, you can't have your team ethic start to disintegrate slowly. We all saw the effect it had on young Rioli (after game change-room footage where he was laughing and emulating Willos gesture), and that's a poor example to set to any young upcoming player. That's not really the culture Clarkson wants instilled into his players.
What's wrong with Clarko stating to the entire football community what he believes is a more respectful way to behave when playing your footy ?
If the media can't see it any other way than that, then I think they've got rocks in their heads.

[detox]

I didn't find it funny. I found it absolutely hilarious.

Footy shouldn't be played by Robots. A bit of smartass never hurt anyone. Port are the worst at this sort of stuff if anyone they deserve it.

[Milkman_Joe]

No cannot agree Nightwolf.

Correct decision by the coach.

Several reasons

First: Major unwanted distraction
The story up to the time Williams did a Williams was Hawthorn's great comeback from behind.

Once Willo did his act that changed and Clarko would have known this incident will be played and replayed and discussed over and over for the next 5 days.

Its a distraction that he doesnt want. It brings unwanted spotlight on a club that is just quietly going about its business.

Second: Respect
It was an insult directed directly at someone who for better or worse is one of only 16 men to currently hold a position of an AFL senior coach. Clarko knows how hard it is to get there, to win a premiership, to keep your job, the luck needed to get the job and the great talent of former players who never ever get that opportunity.

You go like with like. Bag another player on the field and they can respond. Bagging a senior AFL coach is not the right of a mid ranking AFL player.

If Clarko didnt respond it would or could be seen as condoning the action.

Third: What goes around, comes around.
Imagine next time we play PA and a PA player shows disrepect to Clarko what are our boys going to do? Let is slide or go in and beat the utter crap out of that player. I would like to think the second however the suspensions that would follow wouldnt be worth it.

We dont need it and cannot lead to anything good.

I say Good on Clarko for taking immediate action.

Well said, agree with all points :thumbsu:

[thatswhatimtalkinabout]

Agree with Rusty.

I think Clarkson may have gone a little over the top when say "best way to be shown the door", but he obviously wanted to make it absolutely clear that this wasn't acceptable at the club.

Rioli imitating Williams after the game in the change rooms is an example of why Clarkson would have hated it, Williams is a role model to him, and he put a selfish act of showmanship in front of the team, and Clarkson is all about team, and not for ones self.

I personally found it pretty funny and am glad for Port to cop it, but also very satisified that Clarkson has put his foot down and taken control of the situation.

I think Clarkson made a big issue out of it to make sure the players know never to do anything like that again. I think he's nipping what could be a sign of poor club culture in the bud. Sure he had to raise his voice, but he's warned the players in a sense. Even though what Willo did was quite funny at the time, you can't have your team ethic start to disintegrate slowly. We all saw the effect it had on young Rioli (after game change-room footage where he was laughing and emulating Willos gesture), and that's a poor example to set to any young upcoming player. That's not really the culture Clarkson wants instilled into his players.
What's wrong with Clarko stating to the entire football community what he believes is a more respectful way to behave when playing your footy ?
If the media can't see it any other way than that, then I think they've got rocks in their heads.


Somewhere in between these two views and Rusty's I agree.

However my major thought is that, whilst it maybe a storm in a teacup - it is a timely storm to have.

Clarko will use this to remind the players that no matter what the score or the stage of the game, team discipline and adhering to the team plan is paramount.

He will remind them that last time we lost our focus and discipline, we lost a final.

[Buddy the Brave]

I would have thought that having two players suspended from that game as a much bigger problem than what Willo did. I await Clarko starting his next press conference with a bagging out of those suspended players.

All he did was bring the incident into the spotlight even more. I bet Ports Williams wouldn't have apologised if it was one of his players, nor would anyone care if he didn't.

[markr]

I thought the choke sign was nothing however the press were always going to be all over it and by coming out like he did Clarkson has made almost all the articles be about how well he handled it rather than what a terrible thing it was Willo did.

It would be interesting to know whether Willo was actually talked to as harshly as the club made out in the press or if it was just "Come on Willo, enough of that, and we're going to have to tell the press a load of bollocks about you being reamed out, so sorry about that."

[FriarTuck]

It was a distraction and Clarko came on the front foot to quell it.

As for the actual event. It was just another form of sledging. I dont like sledging but it seems to be an accepted part of all sport.

[QuietB]

In my opinion what Clarko did was as much about putting the issue to rest once and for all so the hawks can focus on footy this week and going forward.

The last thing the hawks need, particularly when you read these boards, is the media crapping on about how they are ahead of themselves and starting to believe the hype, etc. and the last thing Clarko needs is to front up to questions about player behaviour every week for the rest of the year when it is not going to help the hawks on field performance one little bit.

He has taken a very hard line publically but I have no doubt that a massive amount of work is being done in the background between the player and the coach to manage any fallout.

This will be dead as an issue in no time, which is perfect, because of the stand that was taken.

[Henry Jr]

I agree with other posters in that I don't believe people would have been talking about it this much had Clarko not brought it up at the Press Conference.

Sure, he would have been asked about it and all he had to say there wasn't much in it, just players having a bit of fun - story finished.

Clarko should have ripped thru Willo (which he would have) infront of the players and played it down to the media.

[MisterBean]

Just the fact that Cyril Rioli performed an imitation of Mark Williams when in the change-rooms is a warning sign.

Here we have a modest, humble kid (who is a superstar in the making), playing out an arrogant gesture. Even though Cyril may show immense confidence on-field, he is not known for off-field arrogance. Cyril's actions and Clarkson's seeming overreaction suggests to me that there is an atmosphere of overconfidence about the place.

If Clarkson doesn't publicly make a fuss over this, our young players won't learn to be true champions. Would a Hird, Buckley or Voss exhibit an attitude like that towards the opposition?

Self-confidence is a good thing, but an arrogant attitude towards someone else is not.

For mine, Clarkson did the right thing. He nipped an unhealthy growth in the bud.

[jazz]

Almost disgusting from Clarkson for bagging out Williams and basically licking the asshole of an asshole for no obvious reason. You dont hang your players out to dry.

Where has all this nice guy crap come from? Campbell Brown helping Judd, Clarkson all over Williams, Mitchell wanting to help out Burgoyne if possible. I dont know about you, but seriously, stuff them. Bugger respect. I want hatred. We were stamped on, laughed at for years, especially from that Port Power club, we dont owe them anything. Anyone anything.

Something along the lines of "Look it wasnt great from Willo, but we've had a chat to him and sorted it out and he understands where we stand".

Much better reaction that one..

Nope. I agree with Clarkson.

Do we want to become Fremantle?

[racingblueelephant]

Ok heres the way it should of happened.

Willow goes into the rooms and sits with Clarko and Clarko says "mate we need some damage control and need it fast and this is your story...

You were having a bad day and you had missed an earlier shot that you should of kicked and you were gesturing towards yourself for not choking on that last kick like you had earlier....


I thought I was the only one who thought like this! Clearly Willo choked on his first attempt on sealing the game, and thus the gesture was aimed towards himself!

[Boyler_Room]

Needed to be handled more internally not externally. Clarko is not the most media savvy coach in the AFL. I think on all sides this could have been handled better and the main loser is our Mark Williams.

Port's Mark Williams can suck it down.

Tredrea is a moron of the highest order.

[Alan Alda]

Clarko did the right thing. If one of your kids publicly insulted a respected colleague you'd pull them up for sure, wouldn't you? You wouldn't condone it just because you love your kids.

Choco Williams is a respected colleague of Clarko. Hell, he is Clarko's former boss. They may not work for the same club but they are two of only 16 members of the AFL Coaches Association.

Remember 2006 when we got belted by PA at AAMI to the tune of 20 goals? This was around the time when many in the media were calling for Clarko's head.

In the press conference after the game Choco came out and said that Clarko knew what he was doing and that Hawthorn should reappoint him as soon as possible. What fantastic public support from an opposition coach, and how right he was - look at us now.

All things considered, I reckon Choco is probably a very good/loyal bloke and that Clarko didn't like the disrespect that was shown to him by Willo.

Well played Clarko.

[eros]

Remember 2006 when we got belted by PA at AAMI to the tune of 20 goals? This was around the time when many in the media were calling for Clarko's head.

In the press conference after the game Choco came out and said that Clarko knew what he was doing and that Hawthorn should reappoint him as soon as possible. What fantastic public support from an opposition coach, and how right he was - look at us now.

All things considered, I reckon Choco is probably a very good/loyal bloke and that Clarko didn't like the disrespect that was shown to him by Willo.

Well played Clarko.

I had totally forgotten this - good point.

[estibador]

I reckon the other thing that's been largely overlooked is Williams' gesture was unintentionally insulting to his own teammates.

His teammates up the field had busted their asses putting their bodies on the line to claw their way back into the game and after being on the end of their hard work Williams' insinuates that it was only Port choking that let his team win the game. As if they just lay down and let the Hawks run all over them. Shows a lack of appreciation for all the hard work his teammates had put in to get them over the line I reckon.

Obviously he didn't mean it that way and they probably didn't take it that way, but if I was a coach I'd be more worried about how it showed a lack of respect for his teammates than for the opposition.

[Hodgepodge]

Even Sheehan said it was an overeaction now that is saying something

Mike Sheahan is a tool of the highest order

[Hodgepodge]

Even Sheehan said it was an overeaction now that is saying something

P.S. How do you make animated gifs?