The Age’s Caroline Wilson has labelled the AFL’s pending investigation into the treatment of First Nations and Indigenous players at Hawthorn in recent years a “mess”.
With the Hawks handing the findings of their external review to the AFL, the competition has since announced that they would appoint a four-person panel led by a King’s Counsel to investigate themselves.
As that group has yet to be finalised, Wilson says there’s “genuine despair” that it’s yet to happen as the families of ex-Hawks players that have made allegations chase an independent enquiry separate from the competition.
“I think there is genuine hope within head office that a process, a procedure by which these claims will be investigated could be completed as early as tomorrow (Thursday),” Wilson told Sportsday.
“There’s genuine despair though that it’s taken over a week already, and as we sit here tonight the aggrieved families who gave evidence in the Phillip Egan review into the cultural problems at the Hawthorn football club were still not over the line as agreeing to the process.
“They all week have been saying they want an independent judicial enquiry, I think Leon Zwier their lawyer is trying to get something together with Peter Gordon, not that they’re on the same side, they’re not.
“But that’s why it’s such a mess, because these people gave their evidence, are unwilling to do so again in an environment they don’t trust.”
Wilson believes one of the reasons the families involved are hesitant to give evidence again and work with the AFL is due to Andrew Newbold, with the previous Hawthorn president now a commissioner of the AFL.
“One of the reasons they don’t trust the AFL is because of Andrew Newbold,” Wilson said.
“Rightly or wrongly, they say that Andrew Newbold, who read his denials today, was an AFL commissioner and the AFL have to be conflicted investigating one of their own.”
With families potentially unwilling to offer new evidence, Wilson finds it hard to see where the investigation goes next as their stories are crucial in forming any sort of thorough investigation.
“It is a mess, I’ve never seen a situation where the AFL itself has lost control of the process,” Wilson said.
“That’s where it sits at the moment, there’s a lot of angst directed towards the Hawthorn Football Club, rightly or wrongly.
“At the moment, a lot of clubs are furious at Hawthorn as is the AFL for not putting strong parameters around the review and sort of giving it to the AFL, leaving it with them.
“Now the parties involved don’t want to cooperate with the AFL, do they go to the Police?
“It’s just hard really to know where they go now if they don’t know where to go with the investigation.”
The AFL originally were hoping to appoint their investigation panel last week but are yet to do so more than a week on from the allegations coming to light through Russell Jackson’s story with ABC Sport.