AFL press conference days after affair claim

UPDATE: AFL chief Gillon McLachlan has said Simon Lethlean and Richard Simkiss may get “another chance” in the “forgiving” football industry following their bombshell resignations.

The details of the affairs have caused shockwaves within AFL House.

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AFL chief Gillon McLachlan said two executives who quit over affairs may get “another chance” in the football industry.

Simon Lethlean and Richard Simkiss resigned this week over inappropriate relationships with young female AFL staff members.

McLachlan, who is friends with both men, said that they were good administrators.

“I know the industry is forgiving. They are high quality people and unbelievable executives,” he said on SEN.

“I feel confident they’ll get another chance.”

The AFL on Friday was rocked by the sex scandal, with chief executive Gillon McLachlan confirming that he had accepted the resignations of football operations manager Simon Lethlean and general manager of commercial operations Richard Simkiss.

McLachlan drew a line in the sand over the scandals, saying that his executives were “role models and set a standard of behaviour for the rest of the organisation”.

HOW TWO AWAY GAMES RUINED AFL CHIEFS:

SIMON LETHLEAN’S FINALS FROLICS STUN COLLEAGUES

RICHARD SIMKISS GOSSIP TRICKLE TURNS INTO FLOOD

McLachlan announces the resignations of his executives. Picture: David Caird

The affairs have now become one of the biggest scandals for the league since the Essendon supplements saga.

There are now claims that a third manager at the AFL has been involved in an inappropriate relationship with an employee.

The Herald Sun understands the third manager was single at the time of the relationship.

McLachlan addressed the claim this morning.

“There’s a lot of different things swirling, there’s nothing that I know that worries me,” he said.

The Lethlean and Simkiss resignations come after McLachlan had to accept the resignation of diversity manager Ali Fahour, who was banned from football for life for throwing a coward punch during a Northern Football League game.

Lethlean, who was paid around $900,000 a year, had an affair with young Sydney-based AFL staffer Maddi Blomberg, girlfriend of rugby union star Kurtley Beale.

Simkiss, a corporate business manager who conducted top end deals for the league, had an affair with young female employee Ali Gronow, legal counsel at AFL House in the Docklands.

Both affairs angered women inside the AFL, with whistleblowers contacting the Herald Sun to blow the lid on the issue.

Kurtley Beale with Maddi Blomberg. Picture: Mitch Cameron

Simon Lethlean. Picture: Photo: Hamish Blair

Richard Simkiss. Picture: Supplied

Ali Gronow. Picture: Supplied

LETHLEAN AND SIMKISS STATEMENTS: AFL EXECUTIVES APOLOGISE FOR SCANDAL

McLachlan announced Lethlean and Simkiss had quit at an extraordinary press conference at 12.30pm on Friday.

“The AFL that I want to lead this professional organisation based on integrity, respect, care for each other and responsibility,” he said.

“There were two men on the senior executive team who had inappropriate relationships with two young women in the AFL industry.”

The strong stance against the two men comes as the AFL considers a report into a review of its respect and responsibility policy towards women.

That report, compiled by Rapid Context, landed on the league’s desk last month.

McLachlan said he had to make a stand when he became aware of the allegations this week, which was a month after the Herald Sun first sent written questions to the league.

“They are separate matters and distressing to a number of people,” he said.

“Both men have been honest and forthright to me and did not want the AFL to be affected by their actions. We are committed to the process of change. It is being seen and felt across our industry.”

The Herald Sun first sent written questions about Lethlean’s affair at 6.12pm on June 8. But the AFL did not respond to those questions.

This newspaper continued to pursue the story, as whistleblowers continued to raise their concerns. Further questions were sent in writing last week but again the AFL did not respond.

The Herald Sun broke the story on Monday’s front page, with the AFL quietly playing down the story to some in the media. But hours after further questions were asked on Thursday, Simkiss handed in his resignation.

Lethlean followed yesterday morning as he also accepted that he had made the wrong decision. Lethlean and Simkiss are both married with children. Both men apologised in statements released by the AFL yesterday. Simkiss said he had made a “serious lapse in judgment”.

Lethlean was also sorry.

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