St Kilda great Nicky Winmar has slammed the AFL’s decision to remove him from the Hall of Fame, accusing the league of hypocrisy for not withdrawing the honour for other footy stars who have been accused of attacking women.
The footy legend had his place in the hall revoked on Wednesday after being found guilty of assaulting a woman in northern Victoria in May 2025.
Winmar was convicted of two charges of common assault and one count of unlawful assault after dragging the woman by her hair and smashing her head into a door in an attack she told the court left her ‘petrified’ and fearing for her life.
The 60-year-old hit out at the move as he revealed he will try to have the court’s ruling overturned.
‘Again, I am appealing the verdict,’ Winmar said.
‘(I) would also like some clarity from the AFL as to why there are other players in the Australian Football Hall of Fame who have been found guilty of similar charges, and why I have been removed before the appeal has even been heard.’
Nicky Winmar (pictured outside court) has had his prestigious Hall of Fame accolade taken away by the AFL
The footy great (pictured) lost the honour after being found guilty of assaulting a woman in northern Victoria in May last year
Winmar did not name any Hall of Fame players who fit that description.
North Melbourne great Wayne Carey, who was inducted into the hall in 2010, pleaded guilty to assaulting and resisting police in Miami, Florida, after being accused of smashing a wine glass into the face of his then-partner, Kate Neilson.
One of the officers was female. Neilson chose not to press charges.
Carey also pleaded guilty to indecent assault in 1996 for grabbing a woman’s breast as she passed by him in Melbourne.
In May 2024, the AFL blocked the two-time premiership winner from being elevated to legend status in the NSW Australian Football Hall of Fame.
He was told the league believed it was inappropriate for him to receive the honour at a time when the AFL was taking a very public stance on violence against women, with a minute’s silence to be observed at ceremonies held before all matches.
A statue commemorating Winmar’s stand against racism – depicting the iconic 1993 moment when the St Kilda star lifted his jumper and pointed at his skin – was removed from Perth’s Optus Stadium on July 5 under a directive from the West Australian government.
Winmar was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2022 following a 251-game career with St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs. He became the first Indigenous footballer to play 200 VFL/AFL games.
His stand against racism in 1993 was pivotal in prompting the AFL to introduce its racial and religious vilification rule in 1995 – a contribution AFL chairman Richard Goyder and Hall of Fame officials acknowledged.
Winmar (pictured on the night he was inducted into the hall in 2022) blasted the league for not withdrawing the honour from other legends of the game who have been convicted of similar offences against women
AFL Hall of Fame member Wayne Carey (pictured with former partner Kate Neilson) was convicted of assaulting a female police officer in America
‘The Commission acknowledges Nicky Winmar’s significant contribution to Australian Football and his place in our history,’ AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder said in a statement.
‘However, the recent findings against him render inappropriate his place in the Australian Football Hall of Fame.
‘Violence against women has no place. Not in our community, not in our game, and not in the values the Australian Football Hall of Fame seeks to uphold.
‘The Australian Football Hall of Fame exists to recognise the highest achievements in our game and admission to it is one of the greatest honours Australian football can bestow.
‘The Commission has a responsibility to protect the integrity and reputation of that honour.’
St Kilda also suspended Winmar from the club’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday, with a final decision on his honour to be made at the conclusion of his appeal.
He is not the first AFL figure to be stripped of Hall of Fame recognition.
In 2023, former North Melbourne, Perth and East Perth champion Barry Cable had his ‘Legend’ status revoked after a civil trial found he had sexually abused a young girl during his playing career. In April this year, Cable was acquitted of historical sexual abuse charges in a criminal trial.
