Ex-AFL star Gilbert McAdam arrested over alleged assault in St Kilda house

Former footy star and popular TV personality Gilbert McAdam is being investigated after a woman was allegedly assaulted at a home in St Kilda. It comes weeks after Dean Laidley was accused of stalking a woman in the same suburb.

Gilbert McAdam is being investigated over an alleged assault. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Former AFL star Gilbert McAdam is being investigated over an alleged assault.

McAdam, 53, was arrested after a woman was allegedly assaulted at a home in St Kilda about 10.15pm last Thursday.

Police have not laid charges but confirmed he was under investigation and was assisting them. The former St Kilda and Brisbane star lost his job last year as co-host of the indigenous AFL program, Marngrook Footy Show.

“As the investigation remains ongoing it would be inappropriate to comment further,” a Victoria Police spokesman said.

McAdam is considered one of the greatest talents to emerge from Central Australia.

Last year he revealed his heartbreak at the decision by SBS and NITV to axe the Marngrook Footy Show after the 2019 season.

“We had the Grand Final show on the Thursday. I found out on the Friday,” McAdam said last October.

“When people found out that it wasn’t going on, they were pretty shattered.”

The popular McAdam is regarded as one of football’s most significant indigenous figures.

He starred for the Saints against Collingwood in an infamous match in 1993 in which he and Nicky Winmar were subjected to a day of racist abuse at Victoria Park.

After the match, Winmar responded to taunts from the crowd by lifting his jumper and pointing to the colour of his skin.

Dale Kickett, Gilbert McAdam and Nicky Winmar of the St Kilda Saints pose following an AFL match, 1990

It was to become one of the landmark gestures in Australian football.

The investigation into the allegations against McAdam is the latest in a succession of troubles involving current and former footy identities in recent weeks. Geelong’s Jack Steven was treated in hospital over the weekend for a mysterious stab wound and is refusing to tell police who attacked him.

Former North Melbourne coach and player Dean Laidley has been accused of stalking a woman after his high-profile arrest in St Kilda this month.

A court heard he tried to monitor her movements via CCTV on her building and made more than 100 calls and left aggressive voicemails from mid-April to early May.

Photos of him dressed as a woman while being interviewed by police were leaked to the public in a major scandal that dwarfed the original police case.

Senior Constable Shane Reid and another officer of the same rank were suspended over the leak and could face two years in jail.

In April, Lachie Hunter stood down as Western Bulldogs’ vice-captain after a drunken crash in Middle Park.

He was also hit with a four-game suspension and $20,000 in fines.

McAdam did not respond to calls by the Herald Sun.

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Originally published as Ex-AFL star Gilbert McAdam arrested over alleged assault in St Kilda house