Hawthorn legend Don Scott drops bombshell salary cap cheating allegations

One of Hawthorn's greats says there are question marks over the club's golden era of the late 1980s and early 1990s, with allegations the club was cheating the salary cap.

The Hawks won four flags in six years between 1986 and 1991, and played in seven consecutive grand finals from 1983-89.

But Don Scott, who played 302 games for the club before retiring in 1981, claims the Hawks were systematically cheating the salary cap.

According to a report in the Herald Sun, Scott says the club was operating outside the rules.

"They were paying wives, they were paying girlfriends. They were doing a lot of things back then," Scott claimed.

"It was like the Roman Empire. It was decadent. It is (cheating). But everyone cheats. Everyone was doing it. It was rife through the AFL.

"The way they were doing it was through Tasmania.

"They put money into an account down there. (The players) would get a cheque from something that was unrelated to the footy club. Back in those days you could do a lot of different things with bank accounts."

Scott wouldn't reveal how he knew the club was cheating the cap, only confirming it was "a very reliable source."

Scott goes into more detail on a podcast to be released this week.

The former Hawthorn captain, who was named in the club's Team of the Century, said multiple former Hawks administrators, who have since died, were behind the scheme.

"That's why I'm talking to you, because they are all dead. None of them are alive," Scott said.

Trevor Coote, Hawthorn's president from 1988-1993, had denied claims of salary cap abuse during his time at the club. In 1992 Brisbane coach Robert Walls accused the Hawks of going beyond the limit.

"Totally untrue, quite out of order," Coote said at the time.

Scott revealed that the AFL salary cap auditor had warned Hawthorn at the time about their conduct.

"The late Phil Ryan went out to Hawthorn and said, 'Listen, you blokes are paying over the salary cap. I'm giving you a warning, but you're doing it'. But nothing ever came out," Scott said.

The AFL salary cap was first enforced in 1985.