# The Sydney Swans scandal: How should the club, the AFL and the media respond?

An episode of [7am](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1461999702), 19 Aug 2026, 18 min.

Audio: https://p.podderapp.com/2544644999/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/2fb3740d-3436-44af-8cc0-a91900716aa5/62723a1f-3e96-4fc4-882c-b25e0181da4d/d2b02aad-9b9b-42a8-9786-b4ab007649bb/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=70f29d90-2a63-48aa-bf8f-b25e0181da70

When news broke this week of an alleged sexual assault involving the Sydney Swans AFL team in Melbourne, old faultlines in the way the sport handles accusations against its players re-ignited. Everything from the players involved, to the language used by the club, and the way the media reported the allegations, came under the microscope. So how much has changed when it comes to footy players doing the wrong thing. And what would a good response from the AFL look like? Today, journalist and author of Night Games, Anna Krien, on the way forward for the AFL. If you enjoy 7am, the best way you can support us is by making a contribution at 7ampodcast.com.au/support. Socials: Stay in touch with us on Instagram Guest: Journalist and author of Night Games Anna Krien Photo: AAP Image/Bianca De Marchi See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: I'm Ruby Jones and you're listening to seven AM. When
[0:10] Speaker 1: news broke this week of an alleged sexual assault involving
[0:13] Speaker 1: the Sydney Swans AFL team in Melbourne, old fault lines
[0:16] Speaker 1: in the way the sport handles accusations against its players reignited.
[0:21] Speaker 1: Everything from the players involved, the language used by the club,
[0:24] Speaker 1: and the way the media reported the allegations came under
[0:27] Speaker 1: the microscope. So how much has changed when it comes
[0:31] Speaker 1: to footy players doing the wrong thing? And what would
[0:33] Speaker 1: a good response from the AFL look like today? Journalist
[0:37] Speaker 1: and author of Night Games and a Korean and what
[0:39] Speaker 1: the response to the scandal says about footy culture and
[0:42] Speaker 1: those who threaten to see it progress. It's Thursday, August
[0:51] Speaker 1: twenty so, and over a decade ago. Now, you wrote
[1:00] Speaker 1: Night Games, which is all about gender and sex and
[1:03] Speaker 1: power and the AFL, and there was in that book
[1:06] Speaker 1: there was one high profile case in particular you were
[1:08] Speaker 1: looking at and the fallout from it. But can you
[1:11] Speaker 1: tell me a bit about what it was like reporting
[1:15] Speaker 1: on the culture around footy and allegations of sexual assault
[1:19] Speaker 1: when you were writing it so in twenty thirteen.
[1:22] Speaker 2: Yeah, it was vastly different to today. I was just
[1:26] Speaker 2: having a look back on some of the commentary around
[1:29] Speaker 2: the particular case that I was reporting on, and there
[1:32] Speaker 2: were form of footballers, you know, tweeting yet another alleged
[1:37] Speaker 2: girl making alleged allegations after she awoke with an alleged hangover,
[1:42] Speaker 2: and I take it at an alleged guilty conscience.
[1:45] Speaker 3: And then there was girls.
[1:47] Speaker 2: When you learn at three am, when you're blind drunk
[1:51] Speaker 2: and you decide to go home with a guy, it's
[1:53] Speaker 2: not for a couple of milow.
[1:55] Speaker 3: So I think it was a fairly different feast.
[1:58] Speaker 2: Even when I was right the book in twenty ten,
[2:02] Speaker 2: it had been determinedly or somewhat determinedly making overtures to
[2:07] Speaker 2: change its culture. And I think in two thousand and
[2:10] Speaker 2: four the AFL CEO was Andrew Demetri and he was
[2:17] Speaker 2: asking all women to come forward with any allegations, and
[2:22] Speaker 2: I remember that prompted a lot of derision from the.
[2:26] Speaker 3: Died in the wall footy heads.
[2:29] Speaker 2: Back then there was John Elliot who ran the Carlton
[2:33] Speaker 2: Football Club for about twenty years, and he was absolutely
[2:37] Speaker 2: dismissive of the AFL trying to change its tune and said,
[2:41] Speaker 2: you know, we just paid the Shielders off and they
[2:43] Speaker 2: were happy just to get their hash money. So you know,
[2:47] Speaker 2: I do think a lot has changed between then and now.
[2:51] Speaker 1: Okay, well let's talk a bit more about that change,
[2:53] Speaker 1: because this week news broke obviously about an alleged sexual
[2:57] Speaker 1: assault involving the Swans. So what were your first thoughts
[3:01] Speaker 1: on seeing that news break and then watching the kind
[3:03] Speaker 1: of unfolding response.
[3:06] Speaker 3: My first response was actually quite personal.
[3:08] Speaker 2: My son is as one supporter, and over the years,
[3:15] Speaker 2: through watching him and his joy that he takes in
[3:18] Speaker 2: watching the Swans as a little boy and growing up
[3:22] Speaker 2: to be, you know, a teenager, you know, I've really
[3:25] Speaker 2: participated and enjoyed it.
[3:27] Speaker 3: So for me when I heard it, I was like no, please, no, no, no.
[3:32] Speaker 2: I was, you know, really disappointed. That seems to be
[3:35] Speaker 2: a word that everyone's saying, but you know I was.
[3:38] Speaker 2: I was deeply, deeply disappointed and sad when I heard
[3:42] Speaker 2: the news.
[3:43] Speaker 1: And so when it comes to the way the institution
[3:47] Speaker 1: of the AFL has responded, I mean we had that
[3:50] Speaker 1: statement from Andrew Dylan, the CEO, on Tuesday night. Tell
[3:55] Speaker 1: me what you made of it.
[3:56] Speaker 2: So the AFL CEO Andrew Dylan, in his statement, which
[4:01] Speaker 2: obviously wasn't solely written by Andrew Dillon. It was obviously
[4:03] Speaker 2: written by a lot of people, but you know, I
[4:07] Speaker 2: was impressed by it. The line sexual assault allegations are serious,
[4:11] Speaker 2: regardless of who is involved, what time of year it is,
[4:15] Speaker 2: or what they.
[4:15] Speaker 3: May mean for the season.
[4:17] Speaker 2: I think that is just an absolute breath of fresh
[4:21] Speaker 2: air in comparison to you know, the last forty odd years,
[4:26] Speaker 2: and this has been driven by women, and I think
[4:29] Speaker 2: this is actually a moment of you know, disappointment and sadness,
[4:33] Speaker 2: but there should also be some kind of warmth to
[4:36] Speaker 2: this moment. I think, I think that we are seeing
[4:39] Speaker 2: the impact of lots of advocacy work and lots of
[4:44] Speaker 2: hard work being done on the ground.
[4:46] Speaker 1: And the response from the club itself, the Swans. I
[4:51] Speaker 1: feel like we've seen a few different attempts over the
[4:54] Speaker 1: last few days to address the issues, and the messaging
[4:57] Speaker 1: has changed a bit. At first, we had see Matthew Pavlich,
[5:01] Speaker 1: I mean, he was criticized for the way he talked
[5:04] Speaker 1: about the players finding themselves in this situation on Monday.
[5:07] Speaker 4: We're still patient together exactly what's transpired here and have
[5:10] Speaker 4: our own set of internal inquiries ongoing. It's sad to
[5:14] Speaker 4: say that we're extremely shocked and disappointed whether this has
[5:18] Speaker 4: taken place, and that the players have found themselves in
[5:22] Speaker 4: this situation.
[5:23] Speaker 1: Then on Wednesday there was this press conference. The club
[5:27] Speaker 1: did acknowledge the women involved, but that was after they
[5:30] Speaker 1: were prompted by journalists.
[5:33] Speaker 5: You've offered apologies and your thoughts to everybody to day,
[5:36] Speaker 5: the players, the fans, the sponsors, the partners of the players.
[5:39] Speaker 1: What about the women at the center of this.
[5:41] Speaker 4: We have offered We're deeply concerned about their welfare and
[5:46] Speaker 4: the well being of those women, and yeah, we offer
[5:49] Speaker 4: as much support as we can. They're the ones who
[5:53] Speaker 4: are impacted severely at the moment, and we are here
[5:57] Speaker 4: to acknowledge those allegations. It's a place match, so we haven't.
[6:03] Speaker 4: We're not going to interview with that.
[6:05] Speaker 1: Five players have now been suspended for the rest of
[6:08] Speaker 1: the season. Tell me what you have thought as you've
[6:11] Speaker 1: watched the way this Swans had handled it well.
[6:13] Speaker 2: First of all, in the pressa today, I actually disagree
[6:19] Speaker 2: the woman was acknowledged before the journalists prompted them. She
[6:23] Speaker 2: was acknowledged among a list of others also acknowledged so
[6:27] Speaker 2: I actually think the club did acknowledge the woman. The
[6:30] Speaker 2: earlier statement about the players finding themselves in a situation, yeah,
[6:36] Speaker 2: I mean that was a little bit off, a little
[6:38] Speaker 2: bit reductive. I mean, they didn't just close their eyes
[6:41] Speaker 2: and wake up and it was all a dream. We're
[6:43] Speaker 2: dealing with adults here, and adults make decisions and adults
[6:48] Speaker 2: have agency the pressor with this one CEO and chairman,
[6:53] Speaker 2: the posture was not defensive. The posture was not antagging,
[7:01] Speaker 2: it was not passive aggressive, and it was not ever
[7:06] Speaker 2: implying that the boys are good and the complainant is not.
[7:14] Speaker 2: I trusted the remorse that these two men showed, and
[7:19] Speaker 2: you felt that a lot of work had.
[7:22] Speaker 3: Been diminished by the actions.
[7:25] Speaker 2: But I also was impressed that they said they would
[7:28] Speaker 2: continue to support the players. They weren't going to punish
[7:31] Speaker 2: and vanish. They were going to punish and support, And
[7:35] Speaker 2: I think that's a crucial difference in how progress is made.
[7:40] Speaker 2: I don't know, I mean, I'm sorry, I feel like
[7:42] Speaker 2: people want me to be more angry, and maybe I've
[7:47] Speaker 2: just gotten a bit old, or maybe I just yeah,
[7:51] Speaker 2: sometimes I just feel like the media just really enjoys
[7:55] Speaker 2: acting as if nothing has changed, when I think quite
[7:57] Speaker 2: a lot has changed, I suppose, though, I mean talking
[8:02] Speaker 2: about the fate of the club and this particular footy season,
[8:06] Speaker 2: and in the case of that press conference today about
[8:09] Speaker 2: you know, corporate sponsors, I think for some people watching
[8:14] Speaker 2: it feels like that's coming at the expense of talking
[8:17] Speaker 2: about the potential victims involved. Yeah, but Reuby, you can't.
[8:23] Speaker 2: You can't talk about the potential victims. I mean, you
[8:26] Speaker 2: can't even really use the word victim. It's a complainant,
[8:29] Speaker 2: it's an alleged incident. I mean, there's maybe there's something
[8:34] Speaker 2: to be said about that. There's a sort of black
[8:37] Speaker 2: box in the middle of this discussion in which we
[8:40] Speaker 2: cannot talk about There is absolutely no way, I think
[8:46] Speaker 2: anyone in any position of authority at the moment can
[8:48] Speaker 2: talk to that incident without putting their foot in it.
[8:53] Speaker 2: People say that Pavlich put his foot in it when
[8:55] Speaker 2: he talked about finding themselves in the situation. I mean,
[8:59] Speaker 2: it's far easier to put your foot in it when
[9:02] Speaker 2: talking about a case that's still under investigation.
[9:09] Speaker 3: Still to come.
[9:10] Speaker 1: The media's flawed response, and can we talk a bit
[9:22] Speaker 1: more about the media's role here in the past, as
[9:25] Speaker 1: you mentioned earlier, there was a lot of focus on
[9:28] Speaker 1: the woman and to age and insinuations of complicity. What
[9:33] Speaker 1: have you noticed change over the years.
[9:35] Speaker 2: Well, I think again there's been quite a different response.
[9:39] Speaker 3: Again, when I was writing night.
[9:41] Speaker 2: Games, there was definitely an element of many sports reporters
[9:49] Speaker 2: feeling like they were in the team as opposed to
[9:53] Speaker 2: reporting on the sport and reporting what needed to be reported,
[9:58] Speaker 2: And there was a sense that journal I saw themselves
[10:01] Speaker 2: more as fans and as mates of players rather than
[10:05] Speaker 2: doing their job. And I don't think you see that
[10:08] Speaker 2: so much anymore. I think you immediately have quite different
[10:14] Speaker 2: questions been asked by reporters, a different approach of impact.
[10:21] Speaker 2: But they again that's a bit different, to say the
[10:23] Speaker 2: footy commentators. I think a lot of footy commentators have
[10:27] Speaker 2: immediately gone to talk about what this means for the
[10:30] Speaker 2: game and for the season.
[10:32] Speaker 3: And so forth. But also to that.
[10:35] Speaker 2: End, you know, that's been quite condemned that footy commentators
[10:39] Speaker 2: have talked about how disappointing this is for the rest
[10:43] Speaker 2: of the team and the other players, that these five
[10:46] Speaker 2: players have actually you know, ruined the season for their
[10:50] Speaker 2: club and for their teammates. And I actually think there's
[10:53] Speaker 2: something quite good happening here in the sense that peer
[10:57] Speaker 2: pressure is really important.
[10:59] Speaker 3: And it's absolutely.
[11:00] Speaker 2: Vital when it comes to the locker room and jock
[11:04] Speaker 2: culture and what's okay and what's not okay. And this
[11:08] Speaker 2: again signifies a huge shift. Ten years ago, this was
[11:14] Speaker 2: totally fine. In fact, the worse you behaved, the more
[11:18] Speaker 2: of a legend you were. Now it's actually been turned
[11:21] Speaker 2: around saying you've let your teammates down, You've totally undone
[11:27] Speaker 2: so much hard work, and you should be really, really,
[11:32] Speaker 2: you know, disappointed in yourself and groveling to your teammates
[11:37] Speaker 2: about how much you've screwed this up.
[11:40] Speaker 1: Sure, but when it comes to what we hear from
[11:42] Speaker 1: some commentators, I mean Sam Newman was on a podcast
[11:45] Speaker 1: recently before this, and he was talking about a woman
[11:48] Speaker 1: who was raped by Ralph Carr, who was an AFL
[11:51] Speaker 1: players agent, among other things, and he used the term
[11:55] Speaker 1: buyers remorse.
[11:56] Speaker 5: I'm just wondering what actual evidence they had, saying they
[12:00] Speaker 5: didn't have any I'm wondering what sort of evidence they
[12:02] Speaker 5: had about him raping her other than the fact she
[12:07] Speaker 5: might have had buyer's remorse.
[12:08] Speaker 1: Or so that particular view. I mean it's still there.
[12:13] Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's just a shame that he still
[12:16] Speaker 2: has microphones near him. I think everyone knows what Sam
[12:19] Speaker 2: Newman is and no one expects any any more of
[12:24] Speaker 2: him than what he currently gives and continues to give.
[12:28] Speaker 3: But you know, he really is on.
[12:30] Speaker 2: The very front of the conveyor belt, you know, leading
[12:33] Speaker 2: out of the football world. He's not even Yesterday's man.
[12:36] Speaker 2: He's yesterday yesterday, yesterday, Yesterday's Matt. He's only saying stuff
[12:41] Speaker 2: to be relevant because the reality is he's not relevant.
[12:46] Speaker 2: I think he really is, you know, the very last
[12:50] Speaker 2: of a sort of crusty diet in the wool style
[12:54] Speaker 2: attitude that you know, it's football's footballers are entitled to
[13:01] Speaker 2: behave in whatever way they want to behave, and I
[13:05] Speaker 2: think you see generations that are currently in the league
[13:09] Speaker 2: that really don't reflect that attitude at all.
[13:15] Speaker 1: And so you're making the case that we are in
[13:17] Speaker 1: the middle of some sort of cultural change for the better.
[13:20] Speaker 1: At the moment.
[13:21] Speaker 3: It's much easier to be negative, isn't it.
[13:24] Speaker 2: It's much easier to be down on the situation and
[13:27] Speaker 2: to say that nothing's changed, but it doesn't. The fact
[13:31] Speaker 2: that it has occurred means that the work is not over.
[13:35] Speaker 2: It's an ongoing project. But I just am very concerned
[13:40] Speaker 2: that the righteous outrage is diminishing such important and you know,
[13:49] Speaker 2: valuable constructive work that has been done by women within
[13:55] Speaker 2: the AFL and the AFL W.
[13:57] Speaker 3: You know, we shouldn't be diminishing these.
[14:00] Speaker 2: Huge leaps that have occurred over the past decade.
[14:04] Speaker 1: But is it the commentary that's diminishing that progress or
[14:09] Speaker 1: is it the actions of certain footy players?
[14:11] Speaker 2: Oh? I say both actually, But I would also say,
[14:14] Speaker 2: if you were to crunch the numbers that these incidents.
[14:17] Speaker 3: Are nowhere near what they were a decade ago, and
[14:24] Speaker 3: from me know, in a.
[14:25] Speaker 2: Decade before that and a decade before that, I would
[14:28] Speaker 2: say that, yes, absolutely these five players have Yeah, maybe
[14:34] Speaker 2: they've wound the clock back a little bit, or maybe
[14:38] Speaker 2: that's just a reminder that people might have dropped the ball.
[14:41] Speaker 2: Everyone's gotten a little bit too relaxed in the ongoing
[14:45] Speaker 2: education that needs to occur.
[14:48] Speaker 3: I remember with night games when it came.
[14:49] Speaker 2: Out, I remember getting a very cold reception from you know,
[14:55] Speaker 2: the AFL and died in the wall footballers, fotball reporters,
[15:01] Speaker 2: football lovers. But I also got a very cold reception
[15:06] Speaker 2: from so called feminists in universities, and I remember feeling
[15:11] Speaker 2: a little bit, you know, miffed, going to why am
[15:14] Speaker 2: I being attacked by my so called allies, you know?
[15:19] Speaker 3: And that bothered was because I was.
[15:21] Speaker 2: Exploring the nuances and the difficulties of consent and the
[15:25] Speaker 2: difficulties of interactions between young people, let alone when you
[15:30] Speaker 2: throw power dynamics into the situation. But then I remember
[15:35] Speaker 2: a football coach reaching out to me at a community
[15:38] Speaker 2: club and he said, I've got fifty copies of your
[15:42] Speaker 2: book and I'm giving it to every single player in
[15:44] Speaker 2: under sixteens. And I remember thinking, that's where we need
[15:50] Speaker 2: to be leveling our conversation.
[15:52] Speaker 3: It just feels like we.
[15:55] Speaker 2: Are constantly turned this into a bit of a cultural
[15:59] Speaker 2: war when there are better ways to convey you know, consent, harm,
[16:07] Speaker 2: all those kind of things, and we don't need to
[16:09] Speaker 2: sort of, you know, constantly be stomping the drum.
[16:14] Speaker 3: I don't know, I just it says something.
[16:16] Speaker 2: There's something to be said for seeing the progress as
[16:22] Speaker 2: well as seeing the disappointment of most recent events.
[16:31] Speaker 1: Well, Anna, thank you so much for speaking with me.
[16:33] Speaker 3: Thanks v. Thanks for having me.
[16:48] Speaker 1: Also in the news an appeal against the conviction of
[16:51] Speaker 1: Aaron Patterson for the murder of three family members fed
[16:54] Speaker 1: a poison to beef Wellington. We'll enter its second day
[16:56] Speaker 1: to day yesterday. Patterson's lawyers argued her conviction be overturned
[17:00] Speaker 1: on the grounds that some of the evidence should never
[17:02] Speaker 1: have been admissible, and that allowing jurors to stay in
[17:05] Speaker 1: the same hotel as police and the prosecution was a
[17:08] Speaker 1: catastrophic failure in the justice system. The prosecution is also
[17:12] Speaker 1: appealing against her life sentence, arguing she should never be
[17:16] Speaker 1: eligible for parole, and fire authorities in the Northern Territory,
[17:20] Speaker 1: New South Wales and Queensland are sounding the alarm warning
[17:23] Speaker 1: of a risky fire season ahead. A warmer and drier
[17:26] Speaker 1: spring outlook with above average growth and vegetation is fueling
[17:29] Speaker 1: concerned people in bush bier zones are being urged to
[17:32] Speaker 1: prepare early.
[17:34] Speaker 3: I'm Ruby Jones.
[17:35] Speaker 1: This is seven am.
[17:36] Speaker 3: Thanks for listening.

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