Ex-Hawks president turned AFL Commissioner denies claim he refused to help player’s pregnant partner

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Ex-Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold has refuted an explosive claim that he had turned his back on a Hawks player’s pregnant partner, not long after former coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan reportedly drove the pair apart.

Newbold, now an AFL commissioner, is adamant that he did not interact with the woman in question via email in 2013.

But he admitted that a club representative at the time reportedly did this on his behalf.

“I didn’t write that email,” Newbold told the… Herald Sunwho on Wednesday published a series of alleged exchanges between the woman and the club from nearly a decade ago.

‘I absolutely want to refute that. It’s not my language I would use.’

According to the Hawthorn-commissioned assessment of the club’s dealings with First Nations players and their families between 2010 and 2016, the woman is said to have written a series of emails to Newbold.

Ex-Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold (pictured right) has refuted an explosive claim that he had turned his back on a Hawks player's pregnant partner not long after coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan reportedly drove the pair apart

Ex-Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold (pictured right) has refuted an explosive claim that he had turned his back on a Hawks player’s pregnant partner not long after coaches Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan reportedly drove the pair apart

Clarkson and Fagan have both categorically denied all allegations of historical racism and said they look forward to clearing their names in the AFL's independent investigation into the matter.

Clarkson and Fagan have both categorically denied all allegations of historical racism and said they look forward to clearing their names in the AFL's independent investigation into the matter.

Clarkson and Fagan have both categorically denied all allegations of historical racism and said they look forward to clearing their names in the AFL’s independent investigation into the matter.

She allegedly outlined that when seven weeks pregnant, Hawks trio Clarkson, Fagan and ex-player development manager Jason Burt allegedly removed the player from the couple’s home.

They then allegedly changed his phone number so she couldn’t contact him.

Seeking answers, the distraught woman then contacted Victoria Police, who reportedly replied that they “were unable to contact Hawks staff.”

In another alleged email exchange, the woman began experiencing “severe anxiety attacks,” “vomiting blood,” and “can’t see the light anymore,” as her stress levels increased while carrying her child in the first trimester.

Newbold is said to have replied that the situation was “beyond my range of expertise and influence” and that it “wasn’t” fitting that he got involved’.

The woman felt ignored and would be treated as “disrespectful and ruthless” by the club.

On Tuesday evening, Newbold again protested his innocence, bizarrely stating that he could not access his Hawthorn email account in 2013 – before adding that he was not responsible for the emails because he did not write them.

Clarkson is a four-time premiership winning coach at Hawthorn - but his legacy will be tarnished if found guilty of alleged ongoing cases of racism during his tenure

Clarkson is a four-time premiership winning coach at Hawthorn - but his legacy will be tarnished if found guilty of alleged ongoing cases of racism during his tenure

Clarkson is a four-time premiership winning coach at Hawthorn – but his legacy will be tarnished if found guilty of alleged ongoing cases of racism during his tenure

It comes after an unnamed Hawthorn coach claimed Clarkson and Fagan ran the team’s football division “like the Russian mafia.”

The allegation was part of the evidence given to the club’s assessment of its relations with Indigenous players.

It is alleged that another player told the review that his time with Hawthorn traumatized him to the point of having “multiple suicide attempts” and “multiple mental health hospital stays.”

Other Indigenous players have accused senior Hawks coaches of involvement in separating them from friends and family in a pattern of what they claim is racist behavior.

Clarkson and Fagan have both categorically denied all charges and said they look forward to clearing their names in the AFL’s independent investigation into the case, with the former insisting he was caught off guard by the charges and denied a fair trial.

The unnamed Hawks coach told the review that Clarkson, Fagan, general manager Mark Evans and Burt “operated the football department like the Russian mafia” and banned anyone who questioned their methods, according to the report in the Herald Sun.

Clarkson (left) and Fagan (pictured together with Hawthorn in 2016) are among senior Hawks officials accused of running the club's football department 'like the Russian mafia'

Clarkson (left) and Fagan (pictured together with Hawthorn in 2016) are among senior Hawks officials accused of running the club's football department 'like the Russian mafia'

Clarkson (left) and Fagan (pictured together with Hawthorn in 2016) are among senior Hawks officials accused of running the club’s football department ‘like the Russian mafia’

1664343167 937 Ex Hawks president turned AFL Commissioner denies claim he refused to

1664343167 937 Ex Hawks president turned AFL Commissioner denies claim he refused to

It is alleged that Hawthorn’s assessment of the treatment of Indigenous players during Clarkson and Fagan’s time with the team found the club’s actions “tantamount to human rights abuses.”

Former Hawks player development manager Jason Burt (pictured) has also strenuously denied the allegations against him, criticizing the club for failing to show him a copy of the report

Former Hawks player development manager Jason Burt (pictured) has also strenuously denied the allegations against him, criticizing the club for failing to show him a copy of the report

Former Hawks player development manager Jason Burt (pictured) has also strenuously denied the allegations against him, criticizing the club for failing to show him a copy of the report

It is alleged that the club’s investigation found that Clarkson, Fagan and Burt bullied and harassed Indigenous players, who were treated so badly that the incidents “represent human rights abuses”.

The report states that the review was told that two players’ partners lost their unborn children during the events leading up to the allegations.

A player who claims the club prevented him from seeing his newborn daughter until she was four months old told the probe he is still reeling from the trauma of his time at the club, leaving him ‘extremely unwell’ and receives an invalidity pension.

“I’ve had multiple suicide attempts, multiple mental health stays in the hospital…[it’s] because of the way the club treated me and my family,” he tells the review.

It is also alleged that another native footballer told the probe that during a visit to his home, Clarkson shocked and insulted him by telling him to invite his teammates over because “as far as they know you live in a cabin in the desert” .

On Tuesday, Burt released a statement strongly denying the charges against him.

“I want to categorically deny the behavior attributed to me in the media. It is difficult to comment more fully in circumstances where I have never seen the report, despite my attorney asking the Hawthorn Football Club and the AFL for a copy,” he said.