Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has apologised to Wayne Carey for his personal attack on the North Melbourne champion, during a face-to-face meeting between the former teammates on Tuesday morning.

Carey told Fairfax Media he had accepted Clarkson's apology, which followed an angry outburst from the Hawks coach over Carey's suggestion on radio that Cyril Rioli had been homesick and wanted to return to the Tiwi Islands.

Carey said there was no feud between the pair, who played together at North Melbourne for seven years.

"He was sincere and apologetic and basically said 'sorry'," Carey told Fairfax Media.