By Jake Niall and Michael Gleeson
In today’s AFL briefing:
- Collingwood have announced the departure of an employee after a club investigation.
- Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson reveals cancer treatment.
Magpies staffer resigns after Alice Springs hotel incident
Jake Niall and Michael Gleeson
A Collingwood football department staffer has resigned after performing a lap dance on a patron in a bar during a club trip to Alice Springs last month.
The junior staffer was found to have behaved inappropriately towards another person at the hotel, a senior club source familiar with the incident has told this masthead.
The man, who worked in rehab as part of Collingwood’s high-performance team, tendered his resignation last week, and it was accepted immediately by the Magpies. The club had conducted an investigation and a source familiar with the situation said alcohol was involved in the incident.
Collingwood’s playing group and football staffers were in Alice Springs as part of their annual trip to the Northern Territory, where they have a next-generation academy zone.
The AFL was made aware of the incident, but the league’s integrity unit did not become involved, as the staffer quit.
Collingwood confirmed the resignation in a statement on Thursday morning.
“Collingwood can confirm that an incident occurred during recent interstate travel that required investigation by the club,” the Magpies’ statement said.
“As soon as the club became aware of the incident, it moved quickly to address the matter and during this process, the employee involved tendered their resignation, which the club accepted.
“Our focus remains on supporting all team members and ensuring our environments remain professional and consistent with the values we stand for.”
The incident happened after Collingwood’s recent cultural immersion program, which started in Tennant Creek before moving to Alice Springs.
All first-year AFL and AFLW players, plus staffers and board members, were understood to have attended the camp.
In a joint social media post by the Pies’ AFL and AFLW accounts on November 29, the club published several images from the camp.
“A group of our athletes, staff, and board members spent the week training in unfamiliar conditions and learning about Country in Tennant Creek for our annual cultural immersion program,” the post said.
“Tennant Creek is situated 500km north of Alice Springs, and lies within our Next Generation Academy (NGA) zone.
“Part of our annual induction for new players, the cultural immersion program focuses on fostering meaningful connection, deepening understanding and working side by side with the local community.”
With AAP
Cancer scare for Bulldogs great
Staff reporter
Western Bulldogs great Brad Johnson has revealed he underwent radiation treatment this year after the shock discovery of a significant tumour on his back.
Johnson, who played a club record 364 matches for the Bulldogs and kicked 558 goals, found a lump in his lat muscle after competing in a game of bubble soccer as part of his broadcast commitments with Fox Footy.
His motivation in speaking about his health concern on The Howie Games podcast was to help others going through a similar situation.
Bulldogs great Brad Johnson has revealed he has had treatement for cancer.Credit: AFL Photos
“I’m finding it more and more easy to talk about it now that I’m through. We’ve got to an endpoint, as such,” Johnson said on the podcast.
“I know there’s still a little bit of work to do over the next couple of years, but ultimately, I’ve been through a process, let’s talk about it, let’s open it up, so people can get some positive reinforcements themselves. If I can assist the positive approach to dealing with something like this, then great.”
Johnson monitored the lump in his lat muscle for about a week after the soccer match before seeking a medical opinion, having initially thought it was swelling.
“Afterwards, I wasn’t sore at all, but just noticed my lat muscle was sticking out a bit more than normal,” he said.
“I didn’t really think much of it. I’m like, I’m not sore, I was in an enclosed position with the bubble soccer, so I thought maybe something minor had happened – a bit of swelling from a knock, and I’ll be fine.
“So, I let it go for a week and nothing was changing. Not sore at all, just pronounced.”
Long-time Western Bulldogs doctor Jake Landsberger sent Johnson for an ultrasound after assessing the lump, after which another specialist diagnosed the six-time All-Australian with a rare form of cancer called liposarcoma.
This type of cancer starts in fat cells, and presents as a painless lump that grows and causes swelling or pain as it enlarges or presses on organs. There are varying survival rates.
Johnson’s lump was about 12 centimetres, or as he put it, “the size of a small footy”. He received almost six weeks of radiation treatment before a surgeon removed the tumour.
“It grew quick, and thank God it exposed itself in that way, so I was able to get on top of it – a bit of luck, in some ways,” he said.
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