Former Hawks star Jack Gunston is “sad” concerning the Hawthorn racism scandal that’s but to be resolved.
Having final week ended an eight-month unbiased investigation into the historic allegations of racism on the Hawks, the AFL has launched a brand new probe.
The determination got here after ex-Hawthorn Indigenous gamers Cyril Rioli, Jermaine Miller Lewis, and Carl Peterson revealed they’d take the allegations additional, saying in a joint assertion that they had been “gutted” that “so-called AFL role models” weren’t ready to “listen to our truths through mediation”.
Those “role models” embrace Gunston’s former a number of premiership-winning coach at Hawthorn, Alastair Clarkson, and his present Lions mentor, Chris Fagan.
“It’s obviously really disappointing that the way it’s played out and you feel for a lot of the parties involved – it’s sad,” Gunston mentioned on Tuesday.
“It’s sad that people leave football clubs and have that feeling. It’s obviously a long drawn-out process and I just feel for everyone involved.
“As a group, it’s hard that we had so many good times (at Hawthorn) and so many great memories, and that there’s some stuff that is unfortunately apparently happened.
“(From) my time there, I can only talk fondly of my experiences.”
Gunston, 31, received three flags in 11 seasons at Hawthorn earlier than shifting to Brisbane on the finish of final yr’s marketing campaign.
He admitted it could be a “weird” feeling taking up the Hawks on Saturday on the MCG.
“It’s somewhere where I have some great memories from … and I’ve still got a lot of great friends there,” he mentioned.
“For two hours out there, they’re just the opposition and hopefully we can get the job done. We’re competitive people and we want to beat each other.
“We’ve been a bit up and down on the road this year. It’s a game we get to play at the MCG, so we’re all looking forward to it.”
The Lions, who’ve received eight from 11, are resuming after a weekend off, with Gunston saying the post-bye “phase” was the “hardest” interval of the season.
“You need to keep talking about the wins and building towards what’s going to work later in the year,” he mentioned.
“You might tweak a few things, you might find a few things out, watch some other teams … there’s a lot of strategy that goes into the back half of the year.”
The Lions are set to be boosted by the return of key defender Jack Payne, who missed the Lions’ last-start loss to Adelaide due to concussion.
However, Brisbane will likely be with out suspended veteran Dayne Zorko, with Deven Robertson, Kai Lohmann and Nakia Cockatoo amongst these in competition to exchange the ex-Lions captain.
Originally printed as Ex-Hawthorn star Jack Gunston says the Hawks racism scandal is ‘disappointing’
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
