AFL let Wayne Carey out of doghouse after Hall of Fame furore

Controversial AFL great Wayne Carey is seemingly back in favour, less than a month after he was sensationally blocked from NSW Legend status.

Wayne Carey is back on the invite list. Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

Less than a month from being blocked from the NSW Hall of Fame dinner, Wayne Carey is back on the AFL’s invite list.

Earlier this month, Carey became part of the inaugural inductees to the NSW AFL Hall of Fame.

However, the two-time premiership winner was also set to become one of 10 inductees elevated to Legend status — until the AFL intervened.

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Not only was Carey blocked from achieving Legend status, meaning only nine players were inducted, but after consultation with AFL CEO Andrew Dillon the former Kangaroos skipper agreed to not attend the gala night at all.

Less than a month later, Carey has reportedly been invited to attend the Australian Football Hall of Fame induction night in Melbourne on June 18.

Carey is not slated to win an award on the night, but has been invited to see Hawks icon Jason Dunstall become the game’s 32nd Legend.

Carey became a member of the Hall of Fame in 2010 and all inductees are invited to the event.

The Herald Sun reported Carey was “keen to attend” the event, showing there were no hard feelings after the furore surrounding the NSW Hall of Fame night.

Wayne Carey is back. Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

The NSW gala had fallen on the same weekend as the AFL honoured victims of gender-based violence at games across the league, sparking outrage in a number of circles.

The North Melbourne great has a history littered with allegations of domestic violence, along with assault convictions, with many pointing out the hypocrisy of the now-53-year-old being feted on the same weekend as they remembered victims of domestic violence.

The AFL Executive held a crisis meeting when informed of the decision by AFL NSW, with the sport’s chief executive Dillion stepping in, personally ringing Carey to express the concern about the induction.

“I called Wayne Carey earlier this morning to inform him of this and he agreed that being made a legend would take away from the event and the important focus on the national response to the issue of gender-based violence against women,” Dillon said at the time.

“He also agreed the focus should be on the inaugural inductees and the nine legends of NSW Football that will be announced tonight.”

Carey has been invited to the event. Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Among Carey’s long list of offences, he pleaded guilty in 1997 to indecent assault after grabbing a woman’s breast on a Melbourne street and allegedly asking her: “Why don’t you go and get a bigger set of t*ts?”

In 2006, Carey allegedly hit himself over the head with a champagne bottle and wrestled with a security guard after an alleged domestic dispute with then-girlfriend, Kate Neilson in a New York hotel room.

The security guard, Kyle Banks, went on tell A Current Affair that he saw Carey “smacking” Neilson in their room at the W Hotel and tried to intervene.

In 2007, Miami police were called to a luxury hotel after Carey allegedly smashed a wine glass into Neilson’s face during a confrontation in the hotel’s restaurant, leaving her “bleeding profusely”.

When police went to the couple’s suite, Carey lashed out and kicked a female officer in the mouth, and was convicted of battery on a law enforcement officer.

Originally published as AFL let Wayne Carey out of doghouse after Hall of Fame furore