Another Hawthorn outburst?

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson’s outburst over the colour worn by the umpires for the Hawthorn-Richmond game this weekend seems to have been a desperate tactic from a club performing way below even their harshest critics’ expectations.

 

In a video interview screened through the AFL’s website Adrian Anderson says, “[Hawthorn] made a specific request to be able to wear their home guernsey, their normal guernsey, and white shorts on the weekend, knowing that the umpires had been allocated green.” Originally the AFL had designated Hawthorn to wear their primarily white clash strip for the game.

 

The colour worn by the umpires this weekend was that worn by “learning umpires” (seen at AFL games each week being worn by the umpires of the half-time Auskick games), according to Anderson. We note, with ill-concealed glee, that the learning colour is particularly appropriate to a number of senior umpires who appear to be umpiring to a different rule book to the rest of us.

 

Watching the game online, the green colour of the umpires’ shirts is much deeper than it appeared live, but, along with wearing navy blue shorts rather than the white worn by Hawthorn, there is quite clearly no clash between the umpires and Hawthorn.

 

Watching live, the clash is even less in evidence. The revelation that Hawthorn knowingly instigated the “clash” is suspicious, at the very least.

 

So what was Clarkson’s outburst all about? Perhaps he’s learned some lessons from his President? Such as, if there’s a question you don’t want asked, take an early opportunity to build a straw man — colour clash in this case — and then proceed to punch it around the head until it’s the story, thereby deflecting attention from the real story.

 

Along with Jeff Kennett’s silly outburst over the Ben Cousins interview on On the Couch, the Clarkson outburst suggests a club desperate to avoid being put under the microscope.