Saints great to sue Newman over explosive claims about iconic gesture

Sam Newman and his two colleagues caused a stir when questioning the context of one of footy’s most iconic images.

Nicky Winmar will pursue legal action against Sam Newman.

Nicky Winmar and photographer Wayne Ludbey are reportedly pursuing legal action against Sam Newman, Don Scott and Mike Sheahan over claims made on their podcast that Winmar’s iconic point to his skin in 1993 was not about race.

ESPN is reporting both Winmar and Ludbey will take legal issue with the trio for insinuating Winmar’s immortalised moment was not a stand against racism.

Speaking on their You Cannot Be Serious podcast, both Newman and Scott suggested the two-time All Australian was referencing the gutsy effort of St Kilda to win.

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“Maybe Nicky’s dining out on it now about lifting his jumper because I reported on that game at Collingwood,” Scott said.

“St Kilda played Collingwood and my recollection was that St Kilda won and Nicky lifted his jumper saying, ‘That was a gutsy effort. We have got heart’. Now it’s been misconstrued.”

Former AFL journalist Sheahan was cautious in broaching the subject and offered that, while Winmar now says he was pointing to the colour of his skin, “I was at Victoria Park that day … and I reckon I left the ground thinking he was talking about guts.”

Newman agreed, claiming the act had since been “morphed into all that other by activists.”

Ludbey, one of Australian sport’s most revered photographers, stood firmly by his recollection of the moment, now 27 years ago.

Neil (Nicky) Winmar lifts his jumper and proudly shows off his skin colour after being vilified by Magpie fans during a St Kilda v Collingwood AFL game 26/04/1993.

“Never at any stage in the last 27 years have I veered off my original story,” he told ESPN.

“I was assigned to do that game, and not only did I photograph it but in front of me was an indigenous man responding to racism.

“I didn’t hear any specific racism directed at him, but he was responding to it and lifted his jumper, pointed at his skin and said ‘I’m black and I’m proud to be black’.

“I was just doing my job, and it‘s not about me. It’s about a man, a moment and a comment, and his friend Gilbert McAdam.

“What Mike, Sam and Don don’t realise is that I had a 400mm lens on initially, and then I put on a wide-angle lens, I only had one camera, and then I ran after Nicky, and he ran to Gilbert. Nicky was in front of the social club area there and then he ran into the centre of the ground where Gilbert was, I was not far behind.

Sam Newman, Mike Sheahan and Don Scott host a weekly podcast.

“They embraced and brought their heads together, and Nicky was repeatedly saying in that euphoric moment of celebration, ‘I’m black and I’m proud to be black, I’m black and proud to be black, I’m black and proud to be black’, to Gilbert as they embraced. So I don’t know if I can be any more specific about what happened.”

Ludbey said the explanation offered by the trio stemmed from an inaccurate observation made by then-Collingwood captain Tony Shaw, with another photographer being overruled by his editors when explaining the context of the moment.

“Unfortunately when he went back to the Sunday Herald Sun, his editors didn’t listen to him, and decided to go with the Tony Shaw interpretation,” Ludbey said.

“He’s been quoted confirming what happened.”

Originally published as Saints great to sue Newman over explosive claims about iconic gesture