Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson reluctant to stand up to defend club's record in the state

A visibly annoyed Hawks coach walked away from a press conference on Sunday over questions targeting the spat between club president Jeff Kennett and Fairfax football writer Caroline Wilson.

Reporters were warned not to ask Clarkson about Wilson’s latest accusations that Hawthorn have failed to financially give back to the Launceston football community over its 15-year presence.

Tasmanian Football Council general manager Jackson Hills intervened on Sunday to put a stop to any further questions on the issue.

Clarkson would only offer on the topic that evolved last week on Melbourne radio that clubs whom financially reaped benefits from the Tasmanian taxpayer dollar were doing their best to foster the game outside of AFL games.

“Ultimately, there is a lot of work behind the scenes around the Hawthorn footy club and North Melbourne footy club that are directly involved in Tassie who are trying to work along those lines to help footy in this state,” Clarkson said.

Devonport and Burnie have already pulled out of the State League all the while regional clubs in Tasmania struggle for playing numbers.

Hawthorn signed a five-year contract at the end of 2016 worth about $19 million over five years to play four home-and-away matches each year at UTAS Stadium.

The Launceston Chamber of Commerce has argued that the partnership brings in close to $18 million annually into the local economy.

The four-time premiership coach had been in Launceston to front up at a coaching forum, believing he was best “representing the club as much as representing football” by his work.

“There’s a lot of people doing a hard work in football right around the country, so there are challenges everywhere,” Clarkson said.

“The one thing certain is that things evolve and change, so we’ve got to move in the direction of trying to work out how we can cope with different demands that are encroaching on sport.”