DON SCOTT attends only one AFL game a year and that is always the grand final.

As he wandered through Yarra Park in the fading spring light, Scott said it lifted his spirits to see so many Hawthorn supporters celebrating over beers and barbecues but he refused to describe to The Age in any detail the comments those fans directed at him.

"That would be conceited," said the man who theatrically ripped the Hawk emblem off the proposed hybrid Melbourne-Hawthorn jumper at the Camberwell Civic Centre back in September 1996.

"It has nothing to do with me. I'm not connected to the club any more."

Scott was at his Moorooduc property yesterday. He was also at his enigmatic best and said no one from the club had called him and nor did he expect them to.

"I'm happy for the players because it's something all players hope to get and that's what they really do play for," Scott said. "I saw a number of them recently at Nick Holland's engagement and I really enjoyed their company.

"And I'm happy for the supporters because there was a sea of them at the game and outside the ground and they've been terrific. They're not a demonstrative group, Hawthorn supporters, but they are passionate people.

"They really should have got this before now. It's been 12 years since 1996 and they deserved one earlier than this. Premierships are won if you sit down and plan them and Hawthorn won one when they stuck to a youth policy.

"Hawthorn went a little haywire by going out and trying to buy recycled players but they finally had the patience to stick to it. They erred a little bit with (Stuart) Dew and (Brent) Guerra but that seemed to work all right on Saturday."

This is not the first time that Scott has claimed no connection with Hawthorn. It has been one of football's most famous love-hate relationships despite his glorious record at the club.

But Dermott Brereton reiterated again yesterday that although he also fell out with Scott, it was the former premiership captain who pushed — after the 2001 preliminary final loss to Essendon — the club to recruit harder, tougher players.

"We probably came to be on opposing sides because of my loyalty to Ian (Dicker)," Brereton said. "But Don was the first one to articulate to the match committee as a football director that we had a soft underbelly and we needed harder players."

Jeff Kennett paid tribute to Scott at Saturday night's official club dinner. "It's only a few years ago in 1996 that this club almost lost its identity," said the Hawks' president. "And we can thank one man that we are here today on our own in the brown and gold … and that is Don Scott. Without his passion, this club ran the risk of folding, and this is a result of Don convincing all the members to think again."