Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has apologised following his comments about the umpiring during his side's loss to the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.
"It was probably a poor choice of words," Clarkson said on Fox Footy at half-time of the Blues-Giants clash at Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
"I went to the press conference with the full intention of trying to educate our members and the football club on just where Hawthorn's at. I actually went in with the intention of not mentioning the umpires at all.
"In no way was I trying to tarnish the umpiring or the AFL, but I just got caught up in the emotion of the game. That decision had only happened 15 minutes earlier."
Following the Hawks' narrow loss on Saturday, Clarkson described the umpiring as 'disgraceful' at his post-match media conference.
"I'm not allowed to comment on disgraceful umpiring, so i'm better off not saying anything," Clarkson said when asked about the umpiring.
"We didn't lose the game because of the umps, but there was a few dubious decisions... we hit a few roadblocks in that regard."
On Sunday, he admitted he had made an error of judgment and says he has apologised to the umpires.
"I apologise to the umps and also to the AFL. It's a really emotional game and I just got caught up.
"I've spoken to Simon Lethlean from the AFL, I'll speak to probably Hayden (Kennedy) and 'Schwabby' (Peter Schwab).
"I'm in regular dialogue with those guys and that's why I'm disappointed in my comments, because I speak to those guys nearly weekly, if not fortnightly. We have really good dialogue.
"Unreserved apology from my behalf."
