Alastair Clarkson and Sam Mitchell chat on the bench after Hawthorn's succession plan was announced in 2021. Picture: Screenshot

IN TODAY'S AFL Daily, star journalists Damian Barrett and Nat Edwards join all the dots on football's big issues.

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- The financial toll on the business is 'horrendous'
- Jeff can sell it how he wants, but cracks are starting to appear in Hawthorn's succession plan
- Alastair Clarkson 'deserved to choose his ending'
- The latest on Dustin Martin's 'lacerated kidney'

In this episode ...

0:32 – The AFL’s logistical challenges keep mounting

1:42 – The huge hit to the League’s budget

3:23 – Meagre improvement to clubs’ soft caps

4:30 – Should the comp take a week off now instead of before finals?

9:05 – Jeff Kennett’s letter to Hawthorn members dismissing Caroline Wilson's claims that Alastair Clarkson and Sam Mitchell had a 'mediation' meeting

10:56 – Why the succession plan has been poorly handled

12:30 – Nathan Buckley’s exit from Collingwood set the Hawthorn succession plan in motion

14:44 – Dustin Martin’s kidney injury more severe than initially thought