AFL fans have turned against the league following its punishment of GWS players for inappropriate and offensive actions at its Wacky Wednesday party, calling for boycotts.
A total of 13 Giants players were sanctioned or fined by the AFL for their actions at the September 18 party following the end of their season.
An anonymous complaint was made to the AFL the following day and that sparked a joint investigation with the Giants, resulting in the sanctions announced Thursday night.
League chief executive Andrew Dillon said there would be “big learnings” for GWS and the rest of the competition after the show.
“Clubs, as they do, should be able to celebrate or commiserate at the end of their season,” Dillon said.
“But I think for GWS there will be big learnings from this, and I think there will be learnings for all our clubs.
‘The important thing is that there is supervision and better decisions are made. “What we have here is a small number of players who make really bad decisions and make terrible mistakes.”
Fringe Giants player Josh Fahey received the most serious penalty and was suspended for four games.
The AFL has been criticized for the decision to ban players for their actions at a private function.
Giants fringe player Josh Fahey is suspended for four games, while key forward Jake Riccardi leads four teammates who will miss the first two games of next season.
Captain Toby Greene was among the senior players fined for failing to intervene to stop the skits. No club leader was sanctioned.
Channel Nine’s Tom Morris reported that Fahey dressed as former NRL star Jarryd Hayne while Jake Ricciardi dressed as a taxi driver and they simulated inappropriate acts with a sex doll.
Connor Idun and Lachie Whitfield reportedly acted out a movie scene that included slavery.
And Toby McMullin and Cooper Hamilton reportedly simulated the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center while Harvey Thomas and Joe Fonti performed an inappropriate skit involving a famous athlete.
The skits have also reportedly involved Australian athletes Josh Giddey and Raygun along with American rapper P Diddy.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said there were “learnings” to be learned from the debacle.
Captain Toby Green was another star who was punished by the AFL for the skits.
Former Collingwood star Dane Swan led a chorus of objections to the punishments and criticized the staff member at the party who allegedly made a complaint about the players’ behaviour.
“You have to hope these GWS lads slaughtered a live goat or something in this pub because these punishments are ridiculous by the standards at the moment,” he posted.
‘The waiter who betrayed them also deserves a prison sentence. It’s always a disgusting thing to do at a private event.
And several fans have called for action, including boycotting GWS games, to oppose the AFL’s decision.
‘If I were GWS, I wouldn’t be playing for the first 4 games of the season. That would make the AFL awake,” raged one fan.
“I propose that in the first round of next year’s season all fans attending the game put black tape over the AFL logo on their shirts,” suggested another.
Others wanted to see a league-wide boycott, with one posting: “Imagine all clubs boycotting and moving to the ORA (Oz Rules Association).”
“We will just attack until this establishment comes to its senses,” added another.
“The players association has to fight this,” wrote another.
“The entire GWS cheer team should show up for the first round dressed as RayGun,” another angry fan suggested.
There were numerous comments online criticizing the AFL for being “woke” for their actions in punishing Giants players.
There were hundreds of comments online criticizing the AFL for being “woke” and many questioning the validity of punishing players for actions taken in a private setting.
‘Unacceptable? What is unacceptable is for the AFL to overstep players’ personal boundaries. “We need to protect what is sacred in this sport: our players and our fans,” raged one soccer fan.
“I hope someone makes a new football league because this one is going down the toilet,” posted another.
‘What’s next where players are suspended if they misbehave at home or watch a TV show that offends someone somewhere?’ asked another.
‘I’m really sick if the AFL is the arbiter of community standards. “I will decide what is right and what is wrong and I am very capable of communicating with a club if I believe their players have breached those standards,” posted another.
While the comment sections on social media were overwhelmingly against the AFL’s decision to punish the GWS players, the league had some supporters.
‘AFL should have tried even harder here. The comments on this from people calling him “weak”, “soft” and “woke” show how pathetic some people are. It’s disgraceful behavior.” posted one football fan.
‘The AFL is clearly not ‘woke’ enough considering in 2024 alone we had 3 people suspended for homophobic language and players making jokes and depicting rape, slavery and terrorism. “Increasingly people are getting angry at the AFL for punishing them too,” said another.
‘If you think these punishments are wrong, then you are the problem. Totally justified by the AFL,” another added.