Hugh McCluggage has acknowledged that the Brisbane Lions regret the inclusion of Jaxon Prior’s partner in their opposition analysis, which was inadvertently leaked to the public last week. However, the co-captain firmly rejected any suggestion that the club’s culture is problematic.
On Tuesday, McCluggage addressed two significant issues: the whiteboard list that raised eyebrows at Essendon and the investigation into draftee Koby Evans’ use of a homophobic slur during a VFL game. When asked if there is a cultural issue at the two-time defending premiers, McCluggage dismissed the notion outright.
“I don’t agree with that at all,” McCluggage said regarding the suggestion of a cultural problem. “I think we can see the bad things at times and they take up a lot of the coverage, but there’s a lot of good as well. We’ve had a lot of journalists and outside people come into our club over the last two years and I think all of them would say that it’s a really inclusive environment, it’s a fun environment. We set the foundations and the rules, and sometimes there are going to be people who make mistakes — it’s life, that’s what happens in all walks of life, and when it happens, we educate, we learn and we get better. As leaders, we play a massive role in making sure that that happens.”
The controversy began when a photo of a whiteboard at Brisbane’s Brighton Homes Arena, listing the strengths and weaknesses of Essendon players, was leaked by a member of the public ahead of Saturday’s victory over the Bombers in Melbourne. The whiteboard was leaked by the father of an Auskick player.
“It was pretty strange when you win a game and then you come off the ground and there’s guys getting worded up about what’s going to get asked, something we haven’t dealt with before,” McCluggage said. “It’s obviously regrettable that that got out. It wasn’t meant to be in the public, we’ll learn from it, privacy and security needs to be lifted around the place. But it’s got plenty of air time and we’ve worked our way through it pretty well.”
The All-Australian midfielder conceded that listing former teammate Jaxon Prior’s partner as a “strength” was a mistake. Prior, who was a housemate of McCluggage during his time at the Lions, has since spoken with the co-captain.
“I’ve spoken to ‘Priz’,” McCluggage said. “If we had our time again, we wouldn’t have involved his partner in it, it’s as simple as that. But things stand in a really good place. I’ve called him, I’ve spoken to him about his partner as well, and we’ll leave it at that, out of respect for the two of them.”
In a separate incident, a remorseful Koby Evans is the latest AFL player facing suspension for homophobic language after an incident involving the 18-year-old during last Saturday’s VFL game against Coburg. This comes less than a fortnight after the league sacked its appeals board chairman Will Houghton, following St Kilda player Lance Collard’s ban for calling a VFL opponent a homophobic slur last month. Houghton was axed after saying such language was “commonplace” in the AFL when adjudicating St Kilda’s appeal.
“We’ve seen these incidences in the AFL industry, but I don’t think it’s isolated to that,” McCluggage said. “I think leaders in every walk of life have a responsibility to call this behaviour and this language out that’s offensive to people. We want to create environments where everyone feels welcome, everyone feels safe and we’re probably not where we want to be as a society yet in that area. It’s disappointing it’s happening in the AFL environment, and hopefully everyone learns from this, not just elite sports.”
