AFL boots Richmond duo over Gold Coast strip club stoush
The AFL has reacted furiously to the latest COVID-19 breach involving reigning premiers Richmond.
Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale concedes the AFL premiership favourite’s reputation has been battered by a series of scandals through 2020 that hit their lowest point with two players sent home after a strip club visit and scuffle outside a kebab shop.
The Tigers and AFL are severely embarrassed by a scandal Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones triggered on the Gold Coast on Friday morning.
Stack, 20, and Coleman-Jones, 21, will be banished to Victoria on the first available flight for a series of COVID-19 breaches that started after they were evicted from the Hollywood Showgirls strip club and then got into an altercation at a nearby takeaway venue.
In normal circumstances, the tackiness of the situation would see the players receive a club-based suspension and a slap on the wrist.
But their actions, which drew the involvement of Queensland police, occurred at a particularly fraught time for the AFL given the political sensitivities involved.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose government has accommodated the AFL this season, demanded the players be sent home prior to the league complying while also issuing hefty 10-match suspensions.
The ban will be particularly devastating for Stack after he narrowly missed a berth in last year’s premiership side.
A talented small forward, he has played nine games this season but missed the Tigers’ win over Fremantle on Thursday night which preceded the scandal. Coleman-Jones is yet to feature in 2020.
Gale said the duo would pay the $75,000 fine the club was handed as a result of recording a second breach of the AFL’s safeguards, another blow in a season where footballers salaries have been cut due to the crisis.
The Tigers also have to pay the $25,000 suspended sanction incurred by a previous breach by Brooke Cotchin, the wife of Richmond captain Trent Cotchin, when she visited a day spa.
It will also cause distress for club employees. The fine will be subtracted from Richmond’s soft cap spend for 2021, which could lead to a further pay reduction for some staff members.
AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon said the actions of the Tigers were unacceptable.
“There is simply no excuse for this breach. The two players knew the rules and chose to ignore them, putting the safety of everyone at risk,” he said.
“The behaviour of the players is not what we expect, regardless of whether any protocols are in place or not.”
Gale, who is spending his second stint in the AFL’s quarantine hub this year, was mortified by the behaviour of the pair, whose rabble-rousing occurred after they snuck away from their dormitory after midnight.
“Disbelief. Anger. Bewilderment. (I have) all those responses,” he said. “The players knew the protocols. They’ve been drummed into players consistently. There’s been a number of high profile examples that reinforce the standards that are expected.
“That notwithstanding, that they’d choose to act and breach the protocols, I think it is fair to say (there is) probably anger and deep embarrassment, to be honest.”
Under the stewardship of Gale as chief executive, the presidency of Peggy O’Neal and the coaching of Damien Hardwick, the Tigers have regained their status as an AFL power.
Winning premierships is a driving motivation. The Tigers have won two of the past three and are favourites to win a third after moving to second on the ladder.
They have worked hard to develop a series of community programs and have prided themselves on their governance and off-field stewardship.
But Gale conceded the club’s standing can be questioned given a tumultuous year.
The issue sparked by Brooke Cotchin’s day spa visit has remained in the spotlight long after it occurred.
Nick Vlastuin and Jayden Short apologised to teammate Mabior Chol after footage emerged of the pair groping at his genitalia while singing the club’s song after wins.
Spearhead Tom Lynch was heavily criticised for a series of on-field incidents that ultimately led to a tribunal appearance.
Hardwick was also chastised by some for derogatory comments directed towards former Demons star David Schwarz.
“This year has been a challenging year. We have got some things wrong on and off the field and we have to own those mistakes and take full responsibility for them and we have,” Gale said.
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