AFL NEWS: No.1 pick praised for response to Blue's 'your club is s--t' jibe, report reveals sexism faced by female umpires

Former North Melbourne great David King has praised the club’s number one draft pick Jason Horne-Francis, after a stoush with Carlton’s Jack Silvagni during the Kangaroos’ 50-point loss on Saturday night.

The Roos conceded seven goals to two in the third quarter at Marvel Stadium to lose control of the match, with Horne-Francis’ clash with Silvagni one of the few instances of fight.

Horne-Francis first took issue with a heavy bump on teammate Tarryn Thomas, before things spilled over when he himself collected Silvagni late to spark a scuffle.

Silvagni appeared to tell Horne-Francis ‘your team is s–t’ during the exchange, with footage of the incident quickly going viral.

Speaking on Fox Footy’s First Crack, King said he was ‘so proud’ of Horne-Francis’ spirit on the night, and wished his teammates could follow his example.

“He plays with an anger, he plays with a level of physicality that’s not matched by others,” King said.

“Who are the players that come in to remonstrate because this is one of your family, one of your guys going down? In comes a guy that’s been there five minutes and fights the fight.

“He doesn’t mind a bit of this, I love it and I wish he had some friends.”

While Horne-Francis conceded a free kick during his exchange with Silvagni, King excused it as the first-year player ‘standing up for his footy club’ – and implored the rest of the team to be more aggressive.

“I was so proud of this young guy for him to do that. I wanted to see where the rest of the leadership group were. Where are the rest?” he asked.

“[Jy] Simpkin is in there, that’s terrific, but where are the big bodies coming and flying in? Make a statement for your footy club.”

Fellow panellist and former St Kilda great Leigh Montagna agreed, saying the seventh-gamer showed ‘real ticker’ in the stoush.

The kid was frustrated – he wanted to win… he’s played seven games, most seven-gamers should be worried about getting a kick,” he said.

“But he was frustrated that all of a sudden that winnable game was gone.”

Of Silvagni’s jibe at the Kangaroos, King admitted the Blue was ‘probably right’.

“I agree with Jack Silvagni, he’s entitled to say what he said and we all know what he said and he’s probably right at the moment,” King said.

“I was a bit disappointed he [Horne-Francis] didn’t have some friends.”

Jason Horne-Francis of the Kangaroos looks dejected after a loss. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Leaked report reveals rampant sexism faces by female umpires

A leaked report into female umpire participation in Australian rules football by the AFL has revealed the dire situation faced by women in the industry at all levels.

The report, published on Monday by the Herald Sun, exposed numerous incidents of sexual harassment, verbal objectification and abuse Australia-wide.

Research conducted by the University of Sydney in 2020-21 was used for the 65-page report, and includes testimony from 27 female and non-binary umpires across four focus groups in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales/ACT.

They reveal instances of inappropriate touching and verbal harassment from both fellow umpires and spectators experienced at state and lower levels, with many of those interviewed having chosen to quit umpiring as a result.

“I used to receive messages of nudes that other umpires would send to me. And umpires during games would inappropriately touch me, like when we’re umpiring together and things like that. So, that’s what made me quit that level of umpiring [state league] because I thought it was too inappropriate and I didn’t know what to do about it at the time,” one account reads.

Another describes overhearing ‘a group of guys talking about my boobs at training one night’.

I was walking up the stairs, and I overheard them being literally like, ‘Oh my god, have you seen [NAME REDACTED] tits?’ And I turned around and I looked at them, and I was like are you serious? Like that’s what you’re going to say? That’s what you say at training? And it freaked me out a little bit to be like my god, what do you say like as a group behind my back?”

Others report instances of racism from spectators, with one saying: “When I used to run and I was a boundary
umpire, a lot of people used to be like, ‘Run n—-r, run!” And they often scream that from the side of the thing.

“Footy is a very white culture background and I’m very well aware of that… my parents… they’re like, ‘Yeah! Go join footy!’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah!’ And then you hear these really ugly words and you’re even like, ‘What’s going on?”

Eleni Glouftsis is the only current female field umpire at AFL level, having made her debut in 2017.

Speaking on SEN Breakfast, former great Garry Lyon slammed the AFL for not publically releasing the report.

“You can’t bury this stuff,” Lyon said.

“This is why I asked the question about why it wasn’t released because you have to make it public so that then we address it and make sure that it never happens again.

“Maybe they turn around and say, well look, if it is public, as it is now, then those that were inclined to get involved may not be; but I don’t think that’s the answer.

“I think the answer is addressing it and fixing it.”

The league has currently cracked down hard on umpire dissent in the AFL, in an attempt to address a serious shortfall in umpire participation numbers at lower levels.

AFL field umpire Eleni Glouftsis. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Demons announce name change for Sir Doug Nicholls Round

Melbourne will rebrand as the the Narrm Football Club during Sir Doug Nicholls Round in round 11 of the AFL season.

Narrm is the Indigenous name for the city of Melbourne, with the club committed to honouring the traditional owners of the land with an historic first move.

Former Demons player Aaron Davey, who is of Indigenous heritage, said he was ‘extremely proud’ of the club’s decision.

“Just to be recognised during those two rounds is always special for our friends and family back home,” he said.

“We get to wear an Indigenous guernsey and now to be called an Indigenous name like Narrm I think is really special.

“There will be little kids here watching us play, asking their parents what the name means and that will start conversations.

“The flow-on effect from that is huge and the only way we can better is through education, teaching and raising awareness so I think this is another step along the way to fast-track that.”