HAWTHORN felt strongly enough about Ben Stratton's heavily scrutinised Friday night antics to stick its "remorseful" captain in front of a club camera the following day. 

Hawks chief executive Justin Reeves also issued a strong statement on Sunday, telling fans and the general football public how disappointed they were as a club in what Stratton did.

'HE LET THE CLUB DOWN' Hawks CEO condemns skipper's behaviour

For those somehow unaware, Stratton relentlessly pinched Essendon opponent Orazio Fantasia – leaving him with welts and bruising – stomped on Shaun McKernan's right foot and 'flipped the bird' to the crowd.

The 30-year-old defender can accept a $1000 fine for his "obscene gesture" to a crowd member, while a Tribunal date is set for Tuesday night for both of his other actions.

"Ben is a very respected figure at our football club, but his actions on Friday night let himself and the club down," Reeves said.

"His behaviour was certainly not reflective of how Hawthorn play, and as our captain we expect more from him.

"We have spoken with Ben following the game and he is incredibly remorseful. We will work with Ben to ensure that this sort of behaviour is not repeated. 

"This is not the sort of thing he or we want to be known for and he understands the need to adjust his behaviour moving forward." 

Fantasia was left with bruising and welts on the back of his left arm. Picture: Channel Seven

Then, come Monday morning, Hawthorn rolled out Isaac Smith to the media.

For context, the Hawks always put a player up for reporters in the early days of the week – and the good-natured Smith is always up for a laugh and a light-hearted comment.

The triple premiership-winning wingman may have already known before Friday night's match that he was locked in for media duties on Monday.

Smith is great 'media talent' and it's why he also appeared on Channel Seven's AFL Game Day on Sunday morning as well. 

But is he the man to turn to in a situation like this, after Hawthorn spent the past two days convincing everyone of how seriously it was treating the matter? 

Probably not. In his own words: "I'm a bit of a character who likes to joke about things." 

THINGS WE LEARNED Time to make some big calls, Clarko

What followed from Smith was to be expected. 

This was his first line about his thoughts on the weekend fallout from Stratton's actions: "I could say I haven't read much of the newspaper or watched any TV on the weekend, but that would be a lie, because I was on it." 

Smith's strongest comments were: "It was probably not ideal" and "We love 'Stratto' and we love how he plays on the edge and sometimes when you play on the edge you make mistakes." 

He went on to allude that Stratton wasn't the only player in the competition who engages in these sorts of crude tactics, yet declined to offer examples or say whether he'd been pinched.

Smith also twice mentioned Channel Seven's coverage of Stratton's pinching, suggesting "things seem to get highlighted a lot more" on Friday nights. 

The defining statement from him: "I think enough's been said. He's got the Tribunal tomorrow night. They'll deal with it there."

Maybe so. Probably so. But Smith, or someone, was always going to front up on Monday – and the questions on Stratton were always going to come.

If enough had been said, don't put anyone up at all. 

On this occasion, the Hawks misread the room and were at odds with the message they tried all weekend to deliver.

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