reports he had apologised for allegedly making an inappropriate comment <\/a>to a number of Essendon AFLW players.
According to SEN, the incident, which was in no way related to the alleged comment, occurred on August 23 when the two footy teams were sharing a Sydney hotel ahead of a double-header at the SCG.<\/p>\nClarkson was reportedly in a lift with the AFLW players when he referenced the Sydney Swans sexual assault allegations by saying words to the effect of: \u201cKeep your hands up\u201d.
It is understood the ex-Kangaroos coach immediately regretted the remark and issued a swift apology which was accepted.<\/p>\n
Clarkson responded to those claims in his interview with The Age. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to make those girls feel safe in the lift,\u201d Clarkson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was me and one other bloke in the lift who I didn\u2019t know, and all these enthusiastic young girls barged into the lift. Three of them stood back as the doors were closing, and I said they could all fit in and something like, \u2018We\u2019re all safe and free here. We\u2019ve all got our hands up here, you can all pile in\u2019. No one respects more than me what our AFLW team has achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarkson, in the interview with veteran football journalist Caroline Wilson, also addressed new allegations of comments he made surrounding the Swans\u2019 hotel incident.<\/p>\n
According to the report, Clarkson \u201cchose his words poorly\u201d when speaking with players ahead of the team\u2019s season-ending loss to the Swans in Sydney, which came just days after the so-called \u201cPullman Five\u201d had been stood down for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n
Clarkson is reported to have he corrected his words in a separate meeting with players after initially \u201cunderplaying\u201d the behaviour of the five Swans players. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was talking to the players pre-training but mindful a lot of them would be heading away to Bali at the end of the season,\u201d Clarkson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we were playing the Swans. That club has been devastated by what has happened, but it affects all of us at every club. I was trying to explain about the four Ps \u2013 the piss, the punt, the penis and the powder \u2013 and how it was so important they make the right choices and that they would all find themselves in situations at times, and sometimes these wrong choices can destroy your careers and sometimes ruin your life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree minutes later, I spoke to them again and explained what I was trying to say.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two-time premiership winning Kangaroo David King earlier said Hood and Viney went too far with their remarks.
\u201cI think they said too much. I thought they went too far. You don\u2019t need to explain everything,\u201d he said on Fox Footy.
\u201cI don\u2019t like it on the way out. A guy gives you four years of his life, yes you\u2019re paying him for that service.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut just say \u2018We needed him, he did as good as he could, we\u2019ve decided now we\u2019re stable enough, no one\u2019s left, and we can charge forward with someone fresh\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he lost the players. He was the right person at the time.
\u201cI command them on being brave enough to make this call. It\u2019s about getting the next decision right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Club favourite sons John Longmire and Adam Simpson, who are both premiership coaches, are the obvious options to replace Clarkson, but the club has communicated younger coaches will also be involved in the recruitment \u201cprocess\u201d that the club has commenced. <\/p>\n
Originally published as AFL icon Alastair Clarkson goes scorched earth with incredible response to Kangaroos officials<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alastair Clarkson has gone scorched earth on North Melbourne with sensational claims days after his ruthless sacking. 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