AFL 2022: Isiah Winder stood down by the Eagles as police investigate alleged drunken fight
A West Coast rookie is under police investigation following an incident in Geelong after an AFLPA Indigenous and Multicultural Players Summit. Get the latest AFL news here.
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Electing to stay over in Geelong rather than fly back immediately after the AFL/AFLPA’s Indigenous and Multicultural Players Summit has landed West Coast rookie Isiah Winder in hot water.
Winder and his teammate Jamaine Jones, who previously played for the Cats, didn’t head to Tullamarine once the four-day summit wrapped up and instead took the opportunity to let their hair down.
This is where things went dramatically wrong for Winder who is being investigated by Victorian police over an alleged drunken fight.
The 20-year-old has been stood down by the Eagles until the New Year after the altercation in a private setting, The other party involved was not believed to have been seriously injured.
Winder was redrafted by the Eagles in last week’s rookie draft, having been delisted after just seven games, six of which came this season.
The AFL’s Integrity Unit and the AFL Players’ Association are closely monitoring the police investigation.
Winder was one of more than 100 AFL and AFLW players from Aboriginal, Torres Strait and Multicultural backgrounds to attend the summit in Norlane, a suburb of Geelong, which took place between November 30 and December 3.
“The West Coast Eagles have been made aware of an incident in Geelong after the AFL/AFLPA Indigenous and Multicultural Players Summit on the weekend involving player Isiah Winder,” West Coast said in a statement.
“The AFL have been informed of the alleged incident and as this matter is currently under investigation by Victoria Police we are unable to make any further comment.
“The club will fully co-operate with Victoria Police and provide support to Isiah through the investigation.”
Winder was drafted to West Coast from the Eaton Boomers in the South West of WA with pick 57 in the 2020 AFL draft.
INDIGENOUS ALL-STARS V THE WORLD GAME ‘NOT A TOKEN GESTURE
Jon Ralph
Fijian-born cultural diversity champion Alipate Carlile says the AFL’s proposed World v Indigenous All-Stars game is not an empty gesture and can showcase the game’s multicultural nature.
The league is keen to play the exhibition game in February but there is little detail about which venue would host the match or whether stars like Lance Franklin, Nic Naitanui and Aliir Aliir would front up.
The league believes it would be a key celebration of how much it values its First Nations and multicultural talent while separately committing to a future review of its handling of Indigenous matters.
The game will come as the AFL works through the First Nations investigation into racism allegations at Hawthorn.
Carlile, who played 167 games at Port Adelaide and is a project manager for the Pacific Islands Council of South Australia, believes the league can achieve both objectives.
“Combating racism is about creating a platform and an educational space for people to learn its impact on the community. It’s not just about dealing with individual cases,” said Carlile, who worked as Port Adelaide’s multicultural projects manager from 2016-2021.
“Any showcase of multiculturalism that blends with Indigenous heritage is positive. There are a lot of similarities with cultures around the world and Indigenous Australia, and we can celebrate those similarities. The game could be broadcast and done well.
“The NRL do it well. They play Indigenous teams against New Zealand and it’s a blueprint for other codes. I do believe it will showcase the many cultures that do play AFL.”
Overseas-born players including Mason Cox (United States), Changkuoth Jiath (Ethiopia), Zach Tuohy (Ireland), Jason Johannisen (South Africa), Andrew McGrath (Canada), Mabior Chol (South Sudan), Aidan Corr (United Kingdom), Connor Idun (United Kingdom) and Conor Nash (Ireland) would be eligible to play in the World team.
The league will play only one official practice match between teams in late January and then an official pre-season game in the first week of March ahead of the season opener between Richmond and Carlton on March 16.
The AFL was criticised on Sunday for releasing its round 1 fixture on Sunday on the same day as the Socceroos’ faced off against Argentina.
It is understood the league had planned that timing well before the Socceroos qualified for the round of 16 to maximise exposure across a weekend ahead of the official fixture release later this week.
The AFL fixture will involve games across nine of 11 days through Easter then the Magic Round from Thursday April 13 to Sunday April 16.
Then the following round games will be played across at least five days with a Monday night Anzac Eve clash between Melbourne and Richmond before the Anzac Day game between Collingwood and Essendon on Tuesday, April 25.
PIES BOSS CASTS DOUBT ON ‘HALF-BAKED’ TASSIE CONCEPT
Glenn McFarlane
Influential Collingwood president Jeff Browne says the AFL’s push for a stand-alone Tasmania team is a “half-baked, premature proposal”, insisting the money would be better spent on building AFLW in the short-to-medium term.
While Browne remains a supporter of an AFL presence in Tasmania and ultimately a team in the state, he insists the current business case for a 19th AFL franchise doesn’t stack up at this point in time.
It comes as the Magpies confirmed the search for a new chief executive won’t be resolved until early next year, with Browne saying certain things would need to change if 1990 premiership star and leading player agent Craig Kelly is a chance of winning the role.
Brown cited the climate of financial uncertainty, the bid’s heavy reliance on Tasmanian state government funds and the fact that so many current AFL clubs are under financial pressure as immediate concerns regarding any decision on introducing a new team right now.
He also questioned whether the AFL could make a sound decision with the Commission being three members down – including Andrew Newbold who has taken a leave of absence during the independent probe into Hawthorn – while chief executive Gillon McLachlan will also leave his role after Round 5 next season.
“I think the AFL are massively under-investing in AFLW … that is where we should be directing our future investment, not this half-baked premature idea of Tasmania,” Browne told the Herald Sun.
“We’ve got a Commission that is three (members) down and it is being led by a CEO who isn’t going to own any of this.”
Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff announced last month that the state government had reached “an in-principle agreement on the key commercial terms to bring a Tasmanian team into the AFL”, pending a lucrative stadium deal that still has not been reached.
But Browne said the national competition needed to be in a healthier, more financially-viable state before the AFL looked at adding new teams.
“Do we want another club that will sit in the bottom six?” he said.
“We will all feel emotionally good about having a truly national competition (with Tasmania’s entry), but the reality is that the competition is not as financially secure as it needs to be.”
“If you look at the accounts, nine out of the 18 clubs don’t make a profit … they (the AFL) have got to close the gap and make (existing) clubs more viable.”
Browne said the investment in the AFLW competition needed to be a priority.
“I believe there is a requirement that we continue to grow and invest in the women’s competition before we grow the men’s (competition),” he said.
“The competition right now is not financially secure enough to bring in new teams.”
Kelly has been linked to the Collingwood chief executive role, but Browne said he would need to not only relinquish his role as the head of the sports marketing and player management group TLA, but also negotiate his way around any potential post-employment exit clauses.
“(A CEO appointment) won’t happen before Christmas and the reason for that is that I need to give myself and the board an opportunity to consider (all) the alternatives,” Browne said.
“People say that about him (that Kelly is the favourite for the role), but he is actually employed by TLA and he is still the CEO.
“If you are employed by TLA, there is no way you can be the chief executive of Collingwood Football Club and in jobs like that, even when you finish there are post-employment restraints that sit on top of that, that you would have to work through.
“There is a lot of wood to chop to get through there and I can tell you that I haven’t even had the axe out.
“I am not saying it won’t happen, but it hasn’t happened (yet) and one of the things I have found is I have had some very skilful people reach out to me.”
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