EFNL 2023: Glen Waverley withdraws from senior men’s competition

The Mad Monday scandal in which a Glen Waverley player performed a public sex act on a teammate continues to take a shocking toll on the club.

The shocking footage of the club’s post-season celebrations went viral. Picture: Supplied

The local football club at the centre of a shocking Mad Monday scandal will go into recess at senior level this season.

Glen Waverley Football Netball Club (GWFNC), which was set to compete in the Eastern league’s Division 4, has confirmed it will not field senior men’s teams in 2023.

The club suffered an exodus of senior players in the wake of its post-season celebrations after a video widely circulated on social media of players performing a public sex-act in August.

It’s understood a bet was made between two teammates that resulted in the loser being forced to perform a sex act on the other at the Mountain View Hotel.

A third player took a video of it and then forwarded it onto a mate.

It was then uploaded to a Mad Monday page on Facebook which shares the wacky celebrations of football and netball clubs around the country.

The scandal went viral, making international headlines with the story splashed across TMZ and the New York Post.

A screenshot of the video filmed in the Mountain View Hotel that ended up making international headlines.

The club received heavy backlash – sponsors pulled the pin and parents withdrew their kids out of the junior programs.

In December, Glen Waverley Hawks president Matt Hollard ironically said the video almost killed the club.

“We have been on the back foot for so long, putting out fires and having no control of the situation,” he said.

“That video nearly killed us...”

In September, the club said those involved in the scandal would not return in 2023.

The club also appointed a new senior coach in November.

In a letter sent to clubs, Eastern Football Netball League chief executive officer Jy Bond said the president and committee of Glen Waverley had advised the league of their decision to withdraw.

The backlash of the scandal saw sponsors and parents distancing themselves from the club.

“The GWFNC immediate focus will be on their junior club, netball and continuing their Auskick program,” Bond said.

“The committee is intending to re-establish the senior men’s teams in season 2024 and rejoin the competition. A longer lead-in time will assist with planning and enable the club more time to rebuild.”

Bond said the withdrawal of Glen Waverley meant Division 4 would revert to a seven-team competition.

“The fixture will remain the same barring changes in round 16 as that distributed to clubs with a bye taking the place of games against GWFNC,” he said.

“Similar to the 2022 season, two additional games will be added to the Division 4 fixture to ensure all clubs play sixteen games and have eight home games.

“Clubs impacted will be notified shortly to agree on a date to play the additional games. Last season the affected clubs played over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend.”

Glen Waverley finished on the bottom of the Division 3 ladder last season with three wins and suffered relegation.