Football fans are divided over a seemingly off-hand comment made during an AFLW match, with some calling it the ultimate compliment and others calling for the commentator to be sacked.
The incident occurred during round one of the AFLW, when Essendon faced Fremantle on Saturday.
The commentary team, which included veteran Kelli Underwood and former AFLW champion Kirby Bentley, turned their conversation towards Fremantle veteran Ashleigh Brazill early in the third quarter.
Bentley has known Brazill for almost two decades and played a key role in attracting her from netball to Australian rules football.
Bentley is a proud Indigenous woman who founded the Kirby Bentley Cup charity carnival, which aims to improve inclusion and opportunities for Aboriginal girls.
Brazill has won gold medals at the Netball World Cup and Commonwealth Games and has played both sports since being recruited by the AFLW in 2017.
Underwood began the exchange by praising Brazill’s athleticism.
“Ash Brazill is 34, this is her 33rd career AFLW game and of course she was an All Australian in 2019, and she still has that speed,” she said.
It was then that Bentley revealed that he had deep ties to Brazill.
“I’ve known Braz since I was 16, I was a rookie when I played national netball with her,” she said.
“It’s crazy, it’s fantastic to see her still here with the amount of intensity we put our bodies through.”
Underwood then asked: ‘Did you pick her when you were 16? Or was she a late bloomer and a late bloomer in both sports?’
“She was an extraordinary athlete,” Bentley confirmed.
“Her vertical jump was unbeatable, I thought she was black.”
Kirby Bentley was an AFLW and netball champion in her playing days and is a strong ambassador for Aboriginal Australians.
Bentley is a close friend of Brazill and convinced her to give up netball to play in the AFLW.
Bentley’s comments about Brazill, 100 percent intended as a compliment, have divided football fans.
The pair shared an awkward laugh at the final statement before Bentley clarified: “That’s a compliment.”
However, the comment did not escape scrutiny from football fans, with many left in disbelief at the racial statement.
“Someone is getting fired in the morning,” one fan posted.
“@AFL @Channel7 are you going to sanction this commentator? This is disgusting,” added another.
“You can’t say that in a public setting. Let’s see if @FOXFOOTY has the credibility to remove this commentator like they would a man if he said it,” challenged another.
“Now imagine if a BT commentator (Channel 7’s Brian Taylor) said this, the internet would go crazy,” posted another.
Others called for calm, saying Kirby’s statement was the highest compliment from a proud black woman.
“Kirby is a black woman, there’s nothing wrong here,” one posted.
“Nothing offensive was said here,” another added.
“To receive the ultimate compliment from someone so black,” said another football fan.
Brazill is an incredible athlete who has played netball and Australian rules football at the highest level for most of her adult life.
Bentley is a proud Indigenous woman and founder of the Kirby Bentley Cup for young Aboriginal women in Western Australia.
Meanwhile, Essendon will be hoping AFLW captain Bonnie Toogood has avoided a serious knee injury after a nasty collision with teammate Amber Clarke in the Bombers’ 43-point round one loss to Fremantle.
Clarke suffered a concussion but no neck injury, while Toogood will undergo scans after suffering a “heavy blow” to the knee in the incident which marred Saturday’s 10.4 (64) to 3.3 (21) defeat in front of 2,820 fans at Windy Hill.
Key forward Toogood was racing to take a mark inside the 50 when she caught teammate Clarke, who had crossed her path apparently without noticing, in the second quarter.
The pair collided heads, then Clarke’s head bounced off the ground as she landed.
