Hawthorn great and former captain Luke Hodge has said he was not aware of racist comments made on a 2013 end-of-season trip until recent days, and that it was never formally brought to the clubs leadership group.

The update comes after reports of an exchange involving club president Jeff Kennett and the wife of former premiership Hawk Cyril Rioli in 2018.

Questions have been raised over the environment for cultural sensitivity within the club.

Speaking on SEN's Whateley on Wednesday, Hodge said he was playing with Brisbane at the time of Kennett's remarks.

He added the 2013 incident involving an Indigenous player had not been mentioned in leadership group meetings that regularly discussed club issues.

"I was captain at the time and hadn't heard of that story" Hodge said.

"If something of that seriousness had of been brought to the group you would've spoken about that."

Hodge said he understood the matter was dealt with shortly afterwards by a senior member of the group.

"There was an apology made, (the) apology was accepted and then they sort of went on with the rest of their trip," he said.

Stories of incidents at Hawthorn involving Indigenous players have emerged in recent days, namely Rioli's experiences at the club between 2008 and 2018.

Hodge said he was aware of some instances and questions whether more could have been done at the time.

"There was a lot of conversations that were held behind closed doors," he said.

"Did we ask pointy enough questions to see how Cyril or see how other Indigenous players were feeling?

"Could we have asked the right questions or probed a little more?"

At the time of Kennett's remarks in 2018, Hodge was playing with Brisbane and said he didn't about the comments immediately.

Hodge said he and a number of former teammates had reached out to Rioli, but understand it may take some time before he is comfortable returning to the club.