Statement attributable to Hawthorn FC CEO Justin Reeves

The past four days has been a time of reflection for our club.

A time to continue to listen and learn.

We have spoken to our current First Nations players who have said they feel culturally safe at the club. They have also said they are confident that our environment is one where they could use their voice if they needed to raise concerns and that those concerns would be acted upon.

But we cannot assume that has always been the case.

We will continue to have conversations with a range of past and current players, community leaders, the AFL and experts in this space so we can build a stronger future.

Through these conversations, we will look to identify and offer support to those who may be in need. It is important that we dedicate the appropriate resources and time to this process. 

We are committed to learning from our past and we will always seek to be better.