Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has revealed a career-changing exchange with triple premiership star Josh Gibson proved decisive in re-directing the defender’s career.
Gibson revealed on last night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here that Clarkson confronted him eight weeks after joining the club with the message “fit in or f#%* off”.
He retired from football at the end of last year after playing 160 games for the Hawks, including the 2013, 2014 and 2015 premierships. He was twice named best and fairest, earned an All Australian and was widely regarded as one of the game's premier defenders.
Clarkson confirmed the exchange and said it was necessary after Gibson failed to change his party boy ways in the early months after crossing from North Melbourne at the end of 2009.
“He hadn’t done as well as we’d like in his first eight weeks after joining the club and that’s when we brought him and had a chat,” Clarkson told SEN’s Whateley.
“It wasn’t just me, there was a series of his teammates who needed to say that to him as well.
“It seem like a nice little tag line the fit in or f$#@ off message but that was delivered by several of us who said to him that the best thing for you and us to get some continuity in your football and the best preparation for that is to get yourself out of the social pages.”
Clarkson said Gibson’s willingness to change underpinned one of the shrewdest trades in the Hawks’ history. He said the opening three months of 2010 proved the litmus test.
“With the Australian Open and Portsea Polo and all sorts of things going on it was going to challenge Gibbo to see if he had changed his ways in his first three months after we had the chat,” he said.
“One of the things he needed to do to was get some stability in his life.
“To live that life when you are out on a consistent basis is enjoyable and colourful, but to get some stability to be a top level athlete and a consistent performer then we said ‘listen you need change some of your ways’.
“Attending a lot of events from day-to-day and week-to-week and being seen at functions isn’t going to help you be the player you need to be.”
To hear Alastair Clarkson and Chris Scott's chat with Gerard Whateley from the Super Bowl listen in the player below!