The Age wouldn't have decided against publishing last year's bombshell report into racism allegations at Hawthorn had they had the story, according to Caroline Wilson.
Wilson, one of the industry’s leading and most respected voices, has told of her surprise at the ABC’s decision to publish the story by Russell Jackson in mid-September last year.
Wilson also revealed that the then The Age editor, Gay Alcorn, had stated she wouldn’t have published the story as it ran by the ABC.
“I had a chat to the then Age editor in chief, Gay Alcorn, and I don’t think she’ll mind me saying this,” Wilson began on 3AW.
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“I said, ‘given what you know…’ and we know that the ABC and Russell Jackson emailed or called those concerned… she said (that) The Age, on what they had, wouldn’t have published.
“Without delving a little bit deeper, I don’t think she’ll mind me saying that.”
An independent AFL investigation are still investigating the claims by numerous individuals in the ABC report, who were all not named.
Among other things, one of the most disturbing allegations included in the report was from a player who said he was encouraged to have his pregnancy terminated.
Wilson had filed numerous reports in 2022 about racism at Hawthorn, including that surrounding the treatment of former club star Cyril Rioli.
While she believed there was more at play than what was in the public eye, Wilson added that the nature of new details surprised her.
“I was amazed that the ABC published it. Obviously it was an extraordinary story, and knowing what I did about the Indigenous failings at the time, I thought there was definitely something there,” she continued.
“But the allegations were so insidious and horrifying. I mean, who knows what we’re going to find out about the truth of them, but we do know that both Clarkson and Fagan are adamant, adamant that they’re not true.”
Clarkson and Fagan took time away from their North Melbourne and Brisbane respectively in the weeks after the allegations aired, but have since returned without a hiccup.
The AFL had hoped their investigation would be finalised before Christmas last year, yet it remains ongoing.