Former Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson.Credit:Getty
But the Hawks’ major objective has been to ensure that the Clarkson payout - which embarrassed the club when he moved on earlier than planned - did not cause them to shed football jobs or compromise their football operations under Mitchell,who is obviously not remunerated at anything like the level of four-time premiership coach Clarkson.
The entire payout (not counting any entitlements) was counted in this year’s financial position,reducing the club’s profit from over $1m to $255,474.
The Hawks say they have re-jigged their football department to ensure that the payout - which is allowed to be spread over three years - does not hinder them from spending on football in 2022 and 2023. Next year,the soft cap will rise slightly to about $6.5m.
Hawthorn’s revamped post-Clarkson football department will allocate more resources to development,in a reflection of their younger list profile and greater investment in the draft. Their coaching numbers will increase by one.
Hawthorn chief executive Justin Reeves said the club had accounted for Clarkson’s payout in the 2021 financial year,which ended on October 31.
“We dealt with all this financially in the year just over,” he said.