Last week, 13 Greater Western Sydney players were handed down sanctions from the AFL following their decision to dress up as “controversial couples” at their end-of-season celebrations.
Josh Fahey dressed up as former NRL player Jarryd Hayne and performed what the league described as “inappropriate acts” on a sex doll. He received the largest of sanctions, copping a four-match suspension.
His costume decision also received one of the most significant responses, with even the GWS AFLW team speaking out following the event.
Listen to The Briefing’s chat with Marnie Vinall, who unpacks everything that has unfolded and gives her opinion on misogyny in the sports landscape:
Alicia Eva, a veteran of the Giants’ women’s side, described the week as “incredibly tough for everyone involved in our footy club”.
“We were understandably angered and hurt by the behaviour that occurred, and we wanted to, as an AFLW side and the public-facing women of our club, make our stance known as part of a club wider statement.”
But as the dust settles, will we see a change in the sporting landscape where misogyny isn’t accepted? Or will sport be considered a comfortable space where men can act misogynistically?
In this episode of The Briefing, sports reporter Marnie Vinall chats with Bension Siebert to unpack everything that happened and give her opinion on whether this will ever change.
Vinall said historically, a sporting community is where men feel they can act in ways they wouldn’t in society.
“Men find sport as almost an escape from that where they don’t have to worry about needing to act in a particular manner or take on board all of this education they get throughout the year,” Vinall said.
“It is really disheartening to see this because… you had Adam Kingsley, the coach, address the men’s players directly, saying that you can be a role model in your actions and your words.
“It is disappointing to see the GWS players engage in that kind of behaviour because I think that you could put two and two together and assume they kind of felt that it was a safe space in quotation marks for them to act inappropriately and that be acceptable to their peers.”