gokangas
Premium Platinum
North Melbourne - 2025 Griffen Logue Player Sponsor
North Melbourne - 2024 Hugh Greenwood Player Sponsor
Veteran
North Melbourne - 2023 Aaron Hall and Flynn Perez Player Sponsor
10k Posts
30k Posts
North Melbourne - 2022 Aaron Hall and Flynn Perez Player Sponsor
North Melbourne AFLW - 2021 Aileen Gilroy and Kaitlyn Ashmore Player Sponsor
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2004
- Posts
- 43,542
- Reaction score
- 42,465
- Location
- Melbourne
- AFL Club
- North Melbourne
- Other Teams
- Storm - Victory
Panahi (I know) goes whack.
Rita Panahi
March 19, 2026 - 5:00AM
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/o...ory/796f0fb19324ac49abf68aa60d1be0c6#comments
Alastair Clarkson’s heartbreaking revelations about the toll the Hawthorn racism scandal took on him and his family should embarrass many in the media.
The Kangaroos coach admitted he feared the ‘injustice’ of the prolonged saga would kill him.
Journalists and commentators who abandoned any pretence of fairness to join a pile-on – ready to condemn Clarkson and Chris Fagan – should feel eternal shame.
As I wrote back in September 2022 when the story broke, the Hawthorn ‘racism report’ was deeply flawed and full of obvious untruths and logical fallacies.
Alastair Clarkson has revealed the toll the Hawthorn racism scandal took on him and his family. Picture: Michael Klein
And, yet the usual suspects in the media were eager to uncritically accept every absurd claim.
Nine’s Caroline Wilson referred to “Hawthorn’s racist past” and called what were untested, self-serving allegations “the greatest scandal to engulf the AFL”.
The veteran reporter also slammed Clarkson for proclaiming his innocence, calling his statement “ill-advised” and “combative”.
Channel 7’s Andy Maher and basketball great Andrew Gaze may want to reflect on their deplorable commentary on SEN.
As should ABC regular Jess McGuire, who wrote: “There is simply no way to justify any of Clarkson’s behaviour, it’s like a horror film.”
Even politicians joined the pile-on, including then Greens leader Adam Bandt, who tweeted: “The reports of racist & sexist coercion at Hawthorn are sickening.”
Hawthorn Football Club should also feel deep shame for its mishandling of the saga and the damage done to Clarkson, Fagan and Jason Burt.
Some journalists and commentators abandoned any pretence of fairness to join a pile-on – ready to condemn Clarkson and Chris Fagan. Picture: AFL Media
In a sane world every single individual at the Hawks who played a role in commissioning the activist report would’ve stepped down in disgrace.
The AFL’s failures were also notable; the league allowed the narrative to spiral into a reputational catastrophe for the three accused men.
The instinct to appease the loudest voices while pretending to occupy the moral high ground saw the ordeal drag out.
There was extraordinary pressure applied to Clarkson and Fagan to make some admission of guilt but both men stood strong and fought to clear their names.
All three men who were named and shamed without due process are owed fulsome apologies from members of the media.
Rita Panahi: In a sane world every single individual at the Hawks who played a role in commissioning the activist report would’ve stepped down in disgrace
Alastair Clarkson has opened up on the “injustice” of the Hawthorn racism scandal and the toll it took on him and his family. Many journalists and commentators should be embarrassed.Rita Panahi
March 19, 2026 - 5:00AM
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/o...ory/796f0fb19324ac49abf68aa60d1be0c6#comments
Alastair Clarkson’s heartbreaking revelations about the toll the Hawthorn racism scandal took on him and his family should embarrass many in the media.
The Kangaroos coach admitted he feared the ‘injustice’ of the prolonged saga would kill him.
Journalists and commentators who abandoned any pretence of fairness to join a pile-on – ready to condemn Clarkson and Chris Fagan – should feel eternal shame.
As I wrote back in September 2022 when the story broke, the Hawthorn ‘racism report’ was deeply flawed and full of obvious untruths and logical fallacies.
Alastair Clarkson has revealed the toll the Hawthorn racism scandal took on him and his family. Picture: Michael Klein
And, yet the usual suspects in the media were eager to uncritically accept every absurd claim.
Nine’s Caroline Wilson referred to “Hawthorn’s racist past” and called what were untested, self-serving allegations “the greatest scandal to engulf the AFL”.
The veteran reporter also slammed Clarkson for proclaiming his innocence, calling his statement “ill-advised” and “combative”.
Channel 7’s Andy Maher and basketball great Andrew Gaze may want to reflect on their deplorable commentary on SEN.
As should ABC regular Jess McGuire, who wrote: “There is simply no way to justify any of Clarkson’s behaviour, it’s like a horror film.”
Even politicians joined the pile-on, including then Greens leader Adam Bandt, who tweeted: “The reports of racist & sexist coercion at Hawthorn are sickening.”
Hawthorn Football Club should also feel deep shame for its mishandling of the saga and the damage done to Clarkson, Fagan and Jason Burt.
Some journalists and commentators abandoned any pretence of fairness to join a pile-on – ready to condemn Clarkson and Chris Fagan. Picture: AFL Media
In a sane world every single individual at the Hawks who played a role in commissioning the activist report would’ve stepped down in disgrace.
The AFL’s failures were also notable; the league allowed the narrative to spiral into a reputational catastrophe for the three accused men.
The instinct to appease the loudest voices while pretending to occupy the moral high ground saw the ordeal drag out.
There was extraordinary pressure applied to Clarkson and Fagan to make some admission of guilt but both men stood strong and fought to clear their names.
All three men who were named and shamed without due process are owed fulsome apologies from members of the media.
