The lawyer representing a family at the centre of the Hawthorn racism investigation says they have again been left feeling "traumatised" by the elongated investigation.
Judy Courtin said her clients had a degree of sympathy for Alastair Clarkson and could "feel his pain", pointing the finger at the Hawthorn Football Club's handling of the matter.
Clarkson, Chris Fagan and Jason Burt are the subject of an ongoing investigation launched by the AFL in response to allegations of racism during their time as coaches at Hawthorn. All three men deny the claims.
Clarkson, now North Melbourne coach, on Thursday took indefinite leave from the Kangaroos due to the impact of the investigation.
"Part of them doesn't blame Alastair Clarkson. Part of them feels his pain, feels his suffering, and they understand it," Dr Courtin told the ABC.
"On the other hand, what about some recognition and acknowledgement for what they have gone through? What about them? There has been no focus on them.
"There has been no public or even private words of support or acknowledgement or understanding. They're feeling, once again, very much traumatised."
Dr Courtin said her clients were "not travelling well at all" and feared the AFL's investigation was turning into a "whitewash".
"There hasn't been any public acknowledgement or support or understanding from the [former] president of the Hawthorn Football Club (Jeff Kennett) for our clients," Dr Courtin said.
"In fact, Mr Kennett, when he was still the president of the football club last year, was blaming our clients and others for creating this whole mess.
"They want justice but, more than that, they want to heal. They're not out to get anyone in particular, but the spotlight here needs to be on the Hawthorn Football Club.
The whole thing is the making of the Hawthorn Football Club. They have to own it and fix it."
Current Hawthorn president Andy Gowers said he felt for "everybody involved", but stressed the complexity of the situation and unfolding investigation.
"I think it's true to say that it's in everybody's interests to have a resolution as soon as possible – and we feel for the complainants, the Indigenous families who are involved, we feel for the people who are accused, we feel for everybody involved," Gowers said.
"It's a terrible situation. We're dealing with it as effectively as we can and as compassionately as we can.
"This is complex, it's tricky, it's incredibly difficult, and there are a lot of people dedicating a lot of time, a lot of effort, a lot of energy, a lot of resources to resolving it."
Interim North Melbourne coach Brett Ratten said he hoped Clarkson's decision to step away from the club could provide the Kangaroos some added motivation in their game against Sydney, calling on them to "do it for Al".
"We want to make sure that we perform at the level we're after and I think this could be the motivating factor — to do it for Al, make sure that we put a smile on his face," Ratten said.
"They're a pretty resilient group.
"[North Melbourne football manager Todd Viney] spoke to the players and we just opened it up to talk about how they were feeling.
"We had our psychologists there to make sure that everybody was feeling all right, expressing their views, and that's really what it's about.
"Todd created a platform where people could have a voice and it was really good, really clear.
"Everyone had their opportunity to talk and how they're feeling so then we have to get on with it.
"The brutal thing about AFL footy [is] it waits for nobody."
