Hawthorn want to repair relationships after racism saga

After Hawthorn brought their racism saga to a close, the AFL club is determined to find the best way to repair relationships with the affected Indigenous former players. Retired premiership star Cyril Rioli was the lead applicant in a statement of claim lodged in the Federal Court in July alongside his wife Shannyn Ah Sam-Rioli, former players Carl Peterson and Jermaine Miller-Lewis, his partner Montanah-Rae Lewis, and Hawthorn's former Indigenous liaison officer Leon Egan. The claim included allegations of unlawful discrimination, including family separations and pressuring a pregnancy termination. Last Wednesday night, the parties released a joint statement confirming they had settled the case after two days of mediation. The statement specified the settlement was reached "without determination of any parties' allegations". Hawthorn have said they hope to welcome the players and their families back to the club. When asked how Hawthorn would repair those relationships, president Andy Gowers said: "There are multiple answers to that question, and we're open to all of them. "But I think the human side of it is where it starts. "And one of the keys, without talking out of school, is that we focused on what unites us and what we really wanted to do, and the last thing that I wanted, and the last thing that our club wanted was to get to a resolution that didn't involve repairing those relationships. "So I remain very hopeful that that will happen. "... The last thing we wanted was a resolution that didn't involve repairing relationships. That's critical." Speaking for the first time since the settlement, Gowers couldn't go into details of the mediation but said it was "an incredibly special couple of days" and "meant a hell of a lot." "It was significant because for the first time, we had an opportunity to sit together," he said. The racism allegations against the club and former coach Alastair Clarkson, his former assistant Chris Fagan and former welfare manager Jason Burt were first aired publicly in September 2022. Current North Melbourne coach Clarkson, Brisbane Lions' premiership-winning mentor Fagan and Burt have all strenuously denied any wrongdoing, while an AFL investigation found no adverse findings against the trio last May. Gowers wouldn't say whether the club would need to pay the legal costs of Clarkson and Fagan. "I'm not going to talk specifically to the financial side of that," he said. "All I would simply say is (on) that matter - there's a whole series of steps that we need and have needed to take. "Last week, you heard and saw a significant one. There are others we need to take. "So ongoing discussions continue. Nothing has been decided on that front, but we'll continue to have dialogue." Gowers again pointed to Hawthorn's focus on "walking together" to move forward. "We're talking about Hawthorn people, some of whom have felt not great about their time or a period of time with their association here," he added. "And we're doing everything that we can to repair those relationships and let people heal. "Because that's been, for me, the biggest thing about this matter has been the hurt that people have experienced. "So we're doing our best to try and fix that, try and mend those bridges, let people heal, get on with their lives and walk forward, walk together. That's what it's all about." 13YARN 13 92 76 Lifeline 13 11 14