Creative tension is good says top Hawk

AAP AFL HAWTHORN call themselves the family club and like any family, there are disagreements.

Coach Alastair Clarkson has rubbished the perception that he is forever feuding with Jeff Kennett, the AFL club’s president.

Clarkson and Geelong counterpart Chris Scott are in Minneapolis, where a meeting of coaches from various sports was held to coincide with the Super Bowl.

Scott said it was fascinating that New England Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichik had a strained relationship.

“It’s OK to have high-level performers in your organisation not agree all the time,” Scott told SEN. “Creating a little bit of that tension can sometimes lead to positive results.”

That prompted Clarkson to discuss his relationship with Kennett.

“We’re very, very similar,” he said. “We think the tension in an organisation, as long as there’s respect, it’s good.”

Clarkson was then asked about former defender Josh Gibson’s recently revealing details of his rocky start at Hawthorn. Gibson has told what happened in late 2009 when he did not curtail his busy social life after joining the club from North Melbourne.

“We just thought ... ‘Listen, if you’re going to be a consistent performer, you just have to pull yourself back from all that,’” Clarkson said.