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Alastair Clarkson would be a dead man walking in the NRL

28th April, 2015
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Expert
28th April, 2015
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Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson is a very lucky man. Lucky that he is not working in the NRL, because chances are he would not have a job by the end of this week.

For those not in the know, Clarkson was accosted by a drunken lout in the aftermath to Saturday’s Hawks versus Power game at Adelaide Oval.

There is grainy, mobile phone footage of Clarkson’s altercation with the so-called ‘fan’, taken as he was entering the team’s hotel base an hour or so after the Hawks’ loss.

It looks as though the coach either pushed or maybe even punched his tormentor as he was about to enter the hotel foyer.

There is definite physical contact, but the bulk of the AFL’s media are pretty much in accord that the high-profile coach was ‘challenged’, and that his actions were in self-defence.

Obviously, I wasn’t there, but I do feel that if something similar happened on NRL turf, all hell would have broken loose.

Let’s say a Jason Taylor, Michael Maguire or Ricky Stuart had whacked an unruly fan over the weekend. It would have been recorded as one of the code’s biggest scandals. An 8.9 on the Richter bad boy scale.

On Channel Nine, Danny Weidler would have suggested this was tantamount to the second darkest day in Australian sport. Radio’s Ray Hadley would have been breaking his neck to express his disgust. The Daily Telegraph? World War 3 headlines on the back of a truly brilliant Anzac weekend.

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It’s not anywhere near that bad, but amazingly Clarkson looks like escaping without major penalty. There’s little or no chance he’ll be sacked or suspended. He might cop a wrist-slap fine but from my very limited knowledge of the AFL, that’s not even a given.

The coach clearly has anger management issues – his rap sheet isn’t pretty – but the AFL authorities will tut-tut publicly before sweeping the incident under the carpet, never to be mentioned again.

Hawks chief executive Stuart Fox witnessed the Clarkson incident and stated publicly that the coach had handled the situation “really well”.

Really? Well…

Here is a senior AFL coach whacking an unruly fan/yobbo an hour or so after a loss and he is said to handle things “really well”. The rugby league media would have grilled Clarkson from breakfast to dinner.

He would not have a media pack explaining away his actions as ‘self defence’, nor would the officials at his club have been on the front foot defending his actions.

If a similar incident happened in rugby league, the miscreant coach would be formally asked to show cause why he should retain his job. And I believe he would be sacked before his club’s next game.

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As a head coach, Alastair Clarkson holds one of the highest stations in the AFL code and he must be seen to act appropriately at all times.

Granted, senior figures in sports – coaches, players and officials – can be victims of verbal and possible physical abuse from so-called fans at any time, but they know they have to show an almost impossible restraint or face dire consequences.

Clarkson had his personal space invaded but stepped way over the line.

He is lucky he is not plying his trade in rugby league. He’d be unemployed by the coming weekend.

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