HAWTHORN Coach Alastair Clarkson spoke to the media at Waverley Park today, ahead of Friday night's blockbuster clash with Richmond at the MCG.
Alastair Clarkson spoke about...
The Adam Goodes issue…
“It’s become really unsavoury, that whole situation.
“I don’t think anyone’s really comfortable… the whole footy community is uncomfortable with it.
“We’ve spent some time with all our players really, but particularly the five Aboriginal players that we’ve got in our club, we’ve spoken to them in depth over the last two days about this issue.
“The overwhelming response from those five boys in particular is, they don’t want this to be about black v white.”
Playing tough footy, Josh Gibson and the MRP…
“We want to play tough, hard footy, but little untoward and undisciplined acts off the ball aren’t something that we want to be about.
“Sometimes the emotion of the game gets the better of our players.
“Josh copped the penalty through the MRP last week for something that was untoward – we don’t encourage that.
“Another incident like that will probably mean a one-week suspension for him.
“He’s pretty disappointed he got caught up in that situation last week.”
Richmond and Friday night’s blockbuster…
“We had the fortune of watching them last Saturday afternoon… they were enormously stiff to lose that game of footy, and that’s not taking anything away from Fremantle.
“Richmond have played really well – they’ve won interstate, they’ve beaten some really, really good sides.
“Both sides, they’re form lines are pretty similar over the last 8 to 10 weeks so that’s why it promises to be a great game.
“We’re really keen to test ourselves against one of the form sides of the competition, as they would be against us.
“It promises to be a great game, so we’re looking forward to that contest.”
Team selection to play Richmond…
“We’ve probably got three or four (possible inclusions) – Stratton and Shiels, Frawley, Duryea – they’re all out there training today and depending on how they all train today will determine how we pick our side.”
Pushing for a top-two berth…
“We’ve just got to keep winning games of footy, we can’t control what goes on with other clubs and whether they win or lose.
“We’ve got two really, really strong opponents who are both vying for top four positions themselves over the course of the next two weeks.”
Cyril Rioli’s season…
“He’s a very, very special player and important to our mix.
“Thus far his season has been really consistent and he’s been really durable.
“We’re hoping that the things we put in place over the summer to get him strong and capable of getting through games is something that will have him able to play games on a regular basis in the weeks and years to come.”
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