Clarkson's classy act of sportsmanship

His side had just lost their first elimination finals match in four years, but Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson handled it with incredible grace.

Chasing four-straight premierships, the Hawks were knocked out of the 2016 finals on Friday night with a 23-point loss to the Western Bulldogs.

But minutes after the final siren, Clarkson made his way into the Bulldogs' changerooms and embraced Beveridge, who worked for three years as an assistant coach at the Hawks.

The two coaches hugged and shared words of congratulations and commiserations as they walked together arm-in-arm.

"We know he's a man of the highest integrity," Beveridge said afterwards.

"We've shared some pretty special times together in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He was the one who sent out the olive branch to me to come and work at the Hawthorn Football Club, so I owe him a lot.

"We worked really closely, I worked really closely with a lot of their coaches and players, so I have a really strong emotional connection to the Hawks. (But) that, of course, doesn’t trump my emotional connection to our football club."