Rach Danderfield

For those interested, I asked North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson a few questions last night about the impact the AFL Bondi tribute fiasco might've had on the club's Jewish star Harry Sheezel, following another stellar performance from the young gun against Port Adelaide. Below are Clarko's answers, which I thought were excellent. They dwarfed anything we've heard from the AFL over the weekend. Andrew Dillon and co. could learn a thing or two. ------------------------------------------------------- Q: Have you had to get around, or have a chat, to Harry Sheezel this week, given the revelation of the AFL taking out references to the Jewish community in that Bondi tribute? Have you had to get around him and have a chat to him? And if so, how is he feeling about it? A: No. You know, Harry’s as mature a kid as you could possibly have and he does that in his own private way with his family and friends and he’s got the full support of our footy club. But he and we don’t want to use AFL footy as a platform to push any cause. At the appropriate time, you know, we’ll all provide whatever support to any group of people who are finding it tough to live in this great country of ours and we want to open arms for everyone that wants to grace these shores and live (in) what is, I reckon, the best country in the world. Q: Is it a bit contradictory when the AFL tries to paint itself as diversity and inclusion and they do something like that? Do you have any thoughts on that? A: No. No. I don’t want to weigh in on it, mate. You know, we’re here to play footy, Harry Sheezel’s here to play footy and make his family, his friends and his footy club proud and I thought that was the case today.