Exposed: Rules that silenced AFL wives and partners

A shocking AFL memo outlining the dos and don’ts for wives and partners of footy players has been revealed with severe sanctions for anyone who breached.

Trent Cotchin with wife Brooke after Richmond’s AFL grand final win. Picture: Getty Images

An AFL memo demanded women not comment “negatively” about the code or the Covid hubs or they faced being ejected from the Queensland base last season.

The Australian has a copy of the memo issued to wives and girlfriends and for the first time can reveal the rules for the AFL’s ‘transitional hub’ in an email sent July last year to partners of club staff, officials and players.

The set of rules included reminding women to not ‘breach’ the safe and responsible consumption of alcohol policy, not to have nannies on site and not to post “negatively” about the AFL, the transitional hub or state government on social media.

Trent Cotchin of the Tigers and wife Brooke

Under the title of the ‘Dos and Don’ts in the Transition Hub?’ it read that partners of club staff, officials and footballers “can not”:
• Leave the Transition Hub at any time (except for emergency or medical treatment);
• Have visits from families or friends that live outside the Hub;
• Have nannies or caregivers attend inside the Hub;
• Purchase alcohol from outside retailers and/or brought on-site;
• Breach the safe and responsible consumption of alcohol policy;
• Post anything on social media, or make any comment via any form of external media that reflects negatively on the AFL, any AFL Club, the Transitional Hub environment or any state government.

However they ‘can’:
• Use Hub recreation facilities;
• Use Hub green spaces and gyms;
• Cook own meals.

If the women broke the rules, the email stipulated they would be ejected from the hub. “If you fail to abide by any of the terms of this Agreement or any reasonable direction … this may result in you being removed from the Transitional Hub and returning [home] … and/or the AFL no longer covering the costs of your stay in the Transitional Hub.”

The email was sent out after a number of Covid-breaches, including one from Brooke Cotchin, wife of Richmond captain Trent, who mistakenly visited a day-spa and posted her visit on social media. She later deleted the post and said she felt suicidal after the media storm that ensued.

Photos from Brooke Cotchins Instagram page. Brooke is the wife of Richmond AFL captain Trent Cotchin.

The AFL also called senior club officials and released the memo reminding women of the rules.

Several women spoken to by The Australian who lived in the transitional hub last season, wryly described it as the ‘WAG gag’. Many women, partners of officials and players, said there were some trying circumstances for many families in the hub but they were constrained from speaking about at times difficult conditions.

Meanwhile, the AFL met with Victorian health authorities on Monday to determine if a transitional hub for the GWS and Swans club women and families who have been separated from their partners can happen.

The wives and partners have been separated from their loved ones for three weeks now after the Giants and Swans players, officials and staff were given just hours notice to leave the State.

If the Victorian government greenlights the partners move to the Covid-safe state, it will be an unexpected five and half weeks away from loved ones.

The Sydney-based clubs are starting the process of finding out who partners of staff, players and officials who may be interested in travelling interstate.

There are currently a number of club staff, including footballers, who are weighing up whether to return to Sydney if their partners and families are unable to travel.

Originally published as Exposed: Rules that silenced AFL wives and partners