Hockeyroos star Anna Flanagan alleges she was called a slut by an assistant coach

Hockeyroos star Anna Flanagan has blown the lid on the way she and other female players were allegedly mistreated when they were part of the Australian national team.

Anna Flanagan has opened up about the treatment she received while playing for the Hockeyroos. Picture: Adam Head

Hockeyroos star Anna Flanagan has blown the lid on the way she and other female players were allegedly mistreated when they were part of the Australian national team — revealing that a former staff member called her “a slut” for posting a photograph of herself wearing the Australian team uniform.

The alleged incident happened when Flanagan was just starting out on her international career.

She was so proud of representing her country that she posted a photo of herself in her green and gold outfit, unaware that a tiny part of her sports bra could be seen in the picture.

The next day, she was approached by a female staff member, totally oblivious about what she was about to hear.

“She told me I looked like a slut, because part of my sports bra was showing,” Flanagan told The Daily Telegraph.

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Anna Flanagan in action for the Hockeyroos at the Commonwealth Games. Picture: Adam Head

“That was from a member of the coaching staff. That was just one of the many inappropriate comments that were said to me.

”There were so many other things and not just to me. Girls were constantly being told they were going to get kicked in the c …”

Flanagan said she was so distraught by the comments that she broke down and cried.

She approached Hockey Australia to complain, but says no action was taken, although the offending staff member later left the Hockeyroos program.

Flanagan complained again after the 2016 Rio Olympics, when the problems within the women’s program were first investigated, and again at the recent independent investigation into the sport’s ‘toxic culture’, only to be told the latest review was only focused on what’s happened in time since Rio.

Hockey Australia declined to comment when approached by The Daily Telegraph on Friday night.

Now 29, Flanagan had wanted to keep her experiences out of the public but decided to speak out after reading comments by legendary coach Ric Charlesworth about the complaints from some players.

Asked whether he would consider coaching the team at this year’s Tokyo Olympics after the sudden resignation of Paul Gaudoin, Charlesworth said his old-school coaching methods might be construed as bullying.

“Maybe that means that I‘m from another era. But as I understand it, that’s what I did and I did it pretty well,” Charlesworth told AAP.

Anna Flanagan has opened up about her experiences while playing for the Hockeyroos. Picture: AP Photo

While he’s a revered figure – and there’s never been any suggestion he or any of his staff ever mistreated any players – Charlesworth’s comments have not gone down well with Flanagan saying he had misunderstood what the review was really about.

“It’s got nothing to do with players being disgruntled about being dropped or complaining about being told to get fitter and lose weight,” Flanagan said.

“These are the things that anyone who plays for Australia understands and expects.

“This is high-performance sport. Of course they want to train hard, of course they want to be challenged because everyone wants to win medals for Australia so any feedback and anything that’s performance related is more than welcome.

“But that’s not what the complaints were about. Those allegations are about the things that we’ve experienced that are far from anything that is acceptable.

“We’re talking about things that are detrimental to performance, and are detrimental to wellbeing, things that wouldn’t be acceptable in any other kind of workplace.

“And that’s been acknowledged by the findings from the review and the way Hockey Australia has responded so any comments that ignore that just aren’t helpful because these are serious issues for women.”