Late on Thursday night, Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson admits his notorious temper exploded again.
Like the prime minister and many other Australians, Clarkson was outraged when Usman Khawaja was dismissed in the third Ashes Test.
Clarkson mentioned this in an effort to add some levity to the news this week that he came under investigation for an incident at a VFL match.
He rang two Port Melbourne players to apologise for a verbal altercation at quarter-time of the match against Hawthorn’s affiliates Box Hill.
That came a year after he was sanctioned for abusing an umpires’ advisor during a local junior game, where Clarkson was acting as runner for his son’s team.
“If you’d been at my place around 11 o’clock last night, when Khawaja got out for that snick, you’d have seen another rant and rave,” he said.
“That’s part of my character – it gets me in a lot of trouble from time to time.
“I’m a little bit regretful I got involved in an on-field incident but, at different stages, we need to protect the welfare of our players and our club.
“Sometimes I get involved in that sort of stuff.”
Clarkson added that coach’s association boss Danny Frawley had rung him during the week, sarcastically asking if he was trying to take embattled Essendon coach James Hird off the back page.
“I walk the line a lot closer than 17 other coaches do, so I have to ‘take my own coat’, without a doubt,” Clarkson said.
“I will live and learn the hard way.
“Sometimes when things occur, like the Khawaja snick, or lack of snick, I do get a bit uptight.
“In a lot of incidents, particularly with mine, they’re not serious offences – particularly in light of what’s going on in our game at the moment.”
Clarkson added the two Port Melbourne players accepted his apology.
“We’re all footballers – we all know what goes on in the heat of battle,” he said.
“They’re ripper blokes, Johnny Baird and Toby Pinwill.”
The fallout from the VFL incident has been a rare problem this week for Clarkson ahead of Saturday’s match against Richmond.
Hawthorn are top and in strong form, having belted Essendon last Friday night.
They also regain Shaun Burgoyne from suspension and have the luxury of putting Jonathan Simpkin back into the VFL so he can have more game time.
It is far removed from this time last year, when they badly needed wins to secure a top-four berth.
Hawthorn did not play their best in the finals and were upset by Sydney for the premiership.
“We’re pleased we’ve been able to win games in June-July this year without necessarily having to play our best footy,” Clarkson said.
“Last week was probably the best we’ve played for some time.
“We’re also mindful we need to produce our best footy when that matters the most and that’s in September.”
