Malcolm Blight believes it is nobody else’s business what happens between a coach and his wife or partner.
After Richmond coach Damien Hardwick and wife Danielle recently split up, Blight insists it need not be an issue for anybody bar those closest to the situation.
“If I can read the stats right, one in two people get divorced now. That’s all the stuff I read on the social pages,” he said on Sportsday SA.
“It’s going to happen.
“It happened to me at North Melbourne. Ron Barassi divorced or separated his first wife when we were there.
“You know what? It was none of my business. None of the dressing room’s business. It is only ever two people’s business.
“Everyone butt out.”
The former Adelaide and Geelong coach does not believe Hardwick’s personal life will at all interfere with the Tigers and their quest for three straight premierships.
“I saw David Parkin go through it, I saw ‘Barass’ go through it,” he added.
“I’ve seen a lot of people go through it and they still held up the premiership cup a year or two later.
“It is a personal issue.
“I’m telling you now, players don’t worry about that. They worry about getting a kick and trying to win a game of footy.
“Once again, it’s none of the players’ business.”
Blight also believes there is too much emphasis placed on the perceived extra pressure on AFL coaches these days.
“Something else, I’m not sure I read all this right, but I think (Alastair) Clarkson had a go and said the pressures of the job are getting everyone,” he said further.
“I’ll guarantee you now, the one in two that are getting divorced, there’s pressures on them. There’s pressure on a bloke driving a truck, there’s pressure on CEOs. There’s CEOs all around the world who are going to lose their jobs.
“There is no more pressure on a football coach. That is an unbelievably overrated statement. The whole world, in that regard, has been under pressure.
“Every job is under pressure.”