Always the politician, Hawthorn president and former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has whacked the AFL again - this time over fixturing.
Rather than harangue Hawks fans over the poor attendance at the upset win against GWS, Kennett has laid the blame squarely at the feet of the league.
In a letter to the 'party faithful' - in this case, Hawks members - Kennett blasted the AFL for scheduling the game late on the afternoon of Mother's Day.
He then went a step further, wondering aloud whether the AFL's treatment of Hawthorn in the fixturing was part of a conspiracy to drive them out of their lucrative deal to play home games at Launceston.
The AFL is one of Kennett's favourite targets and he was in predictable form on Monday as he addressed the paltry MCG home crowd of 14,636.
"I consider the 3.20/4.40pm Sunday afternoon timeslots for an AFL game to be the death knell slot of the week," Kennett wrote.
He noted Hawthorn have eight Sunday games this season and said it would cost the club up to $1 million in lost revenue.
"Worse of course, to schedule any game on Mother's Day is to further ignore that so many families celebrate Mother's Day with and at family gatherings," Kennett said.
"Hawthorn is proudly the family club, and families must always come first at Hawthorn.
"I am surprised so many were in attendance yesterday and I thank you for making the effort to attend on such a special day."
While North Melbourne's Marvel Stadium game earlier on Sunday afternoon against Geelong also featured a lean crowd of 21,156, apparently family values are in decline on the other side of the country.
Fremantle's 3.20 home game on Sunday against Richmond attracted a healthy crowd of 42,641.
Kennett had a final barb at the AFL over the fixture.
"I can't help but think they must sit around the table at the AFL trying to think of ways to weaken our club. Or is it just part of their continuing campaign to drive us out of Tasmania?," he said.
