Unless you’ve been under a rock for the last couple of weeks, then you would have seen the AFL St Kilda scandal playing out on mainstream media and social media across the board. A football player was photographed naked, posed with a team mate holding a condom to his penis and eventually, it showed up on facebook, helped along by a 17 year old girl.
The “St Kilda Schoolgirl” as she’s been dubbed on media outlets, has been crucified by the mainstream media and hung out to dry by the AFL. According to information coming out, she met the St Kilda players when they held a football clinic at her school. She was 16. A few weeks later, she waited outside of their changing rooms, to meet them again.
By all accounts, she was a star struck girl.
Of course, we all know how the story goes. She ended up pregnant and was treated badly by the AFL when she went to them about it. That was nothing compared to how they treated her when she released the photos.
She’s been called a slut, a gold digger, a whore. Her reputation has been dragged through the mud, with the Saints trying to crucify her. What, for the crime of posting a naked photo of a player?
I’m sorry, did the NRL chase down and try to crucify the person who released the photo of player Joel Monaghan engaged in a lewd act with a dog? No. No they did not.
AFL chief Andrew Demetriou has apparently had over 20 meetings with this girl. Now, personally, I can’t see any reason for him to meet with her that many times – unless of course he was looking to get into her pants as well. Now that’s just my opinion of course, but does the AFL normally provide personal ‘counselling’ for every woman treated badly by the players? Methinks if they did that, there wouldn’t be time to actually organise any football games.
I am disgusted that the St Kilda football club has taken after this girl like a pack of wolves. Threatening to sue her for everything under the sun, for damages lasting possibly 15 years? Bullying is never okay, especially when you’re a multi-million dollar football club.
At the end of the day, this girl is 17. She’s a young girl, out of her depth and by all accounts, deeply stressed by the portrayal of herself in the media.
And so I’m asking, why aren’t we outraged by her treatment? As women, as mothers, why aren’t we sticking up for this girl? She might have done some stupid things, but she is seventeen. We all did stupid things as teenagers.
Imagine if it were your daughter, or your niece, or your sister. Imagine if they’d been put in this situation by heavy weights at the AFL and in the media. How would you feel, to see comments like this directed at her?
I hope they take you for everything you have you little gold digger. Its great that now the tables have turned and youve lost your “power” that your signing a different song. If I had a kid like you i’d kick your arse and kick you out and be ashamed that I could produce something as nasty and tacky as you are. Youre not sorry, youre just sorry things havent gone your way. Enjoy being broke and having a bad rep for the rest of your life, youve earned it. If i see you in the street I’ll be sure to spit in your face.
How is a reaction like that warranted?
I am disgusted at the way she is being treated.
She deserves our support, not to be abused even further.
I thought Australia was better than this. Apparently we are, but only when it doesn’t involve our football “stars”.
Discuss.
Very well said Veronica, I agree 100% the treatment she has recieved is utterly discusting SHAME ON YOU St Kilda Football Club shame on you!!!!! Maybe next time they will think twice before they go chasing school girls. My heart goes out to this poor young girl
My heart goes out to her too, I am ashamed of how she is being treated.
I read about this yesterday on your mom’s blog. I hadn’t heard anything about it as it hasn’t made the news in the U.S. I googled it and came across a story in the Herald Sun. I was appalled a the tone of the story, which was ridiculously judgmental and condescending towards the girl (it was an opinion piece).
So where is the outrage at the football player that got a schoolgirl pregnant and shows no accountability? What sexist bullshit.
There is no outrage, not in the mainstream media anyhow. The media is, of course, heavily controlled by people who have interests in AFL staying the way it is. Shame on them.
AND, I’m getting increasingly annoyed at the comments left on her blog. I suspect it’s a PR company “astroturfing” because all of the profiles abusing her, or telling people how wrong she is are “not available”. The first 40 or so comments are mostly decent and information sharing and then bam, the conversation is derailed and it degenerates into commenters calling other commenters names and abusing anyone who disagrees.
This is astroturfing by the way.
Oh, sing it, sister. Also ref. the reactions to the Lara Bingle photo, whereupon the selfsame people having a big boo-hoo about the poor footballers were jumping up and down telling Ms Bingle to get over it, what’s the big deal, boyz will be boyz, etc etc etc. And she wasn’t even posing for her shot!
Should this girl have published the photos? Probably not, it was a foolhardy, risky thing to do on many levels (as she’s now finding out, poor kid). Do the players in question have the right to feel upset? Sure, anyone who has their nude image used without their consent has the right to feel upset, and honestly I couldn’t blame them (or anyone else) seeking an order / injunction to remove the pictures. I sure would if it was me.
But – Is the whole thing in any *tiny* way justification for the level of vitriol that has been unleashed on this girl? No to the power of CAN WE SAY SEXISM ANYONE?
Ultimately, what’s pissed people off so royally is that she, a person of the female persuasion, has dared to humiliate not just male persons but SPORTSMEN in a pretty overtly sexual way. Clearly, she didn’t get the memo that that particular privilege is the prerogative of a certain kind of man with respect to any and all women. Poor kid, again. Hell hath no fury like a patriarchy scorned.
YES! Exactly yes.
I can understand the upset about the photos and getting orders for them to be removed, but everything else about this whole case sucks.
The Lara Bingle is an especially good parallel to draw – boys will be boys, yeah right. What a crock.
It’s feeling like taking a sledgehammer to an egg, in all honesty.
I am so with you. I am disgusted that our society cares more for a grown man who did something stupid, than they do for a young girl. How about he takes some responsibility for his actions and the afl stops trying to blame someone else for his stupidity. How about we support this young girl, help her, give her a chance to learn from her mistakes.
This whole saga makes me want to do all that I can to ensure my children are never part of the football club culture in any way shape or form
If he hadn’t of posed, there wouldn’t be this issue. If you don’t want naked photos of your penis on the internet, then don’t pose with it hanging out. Easy, yes?
I’ll be trying to do the same thing with my kids. Footballers have a pack mentality and that scares me a little.
“If you don’t want naked photos of your penis on the internet, then don’t pose with it hanging out. Easy, yes?”
Precisely!
Kate, My son played footy at a junior level and I was pleased when he decided not to play on when he went to high school as I really didn’t want him getting involved with a sporting group that has such a screwed attitude to women and an entrenched binge-drinking culture.
The senior boys had team t-shirts with road safety slogans on them such as “drink drive, you’re a bloody fool” but they had added in texta “make it home and you are a bloody legend”.
It is this culture of abuse that we need to break.
You clearly do not know her at all!
she brought this on herself, slept with countless amouns of footballers, i can name 20 of the top of my head!
Sarah, she could have slept with the president for all I care, this post is not about who she has been sleeping with. This post is about bullying and trial by media, two things I am entirely opposed to.
Name 20 off the top of your head. And then, in order to help you avoid a slander suit from the girl, cite sources for them or otherwise provide documentation.
And the men brought this on themselves. They took pictures of themselves masturbating. They allowed a teenaged girl to have access to those pictures and didn’t care. Based on what you said, they traded a teenaged girl around like candy. The men knew that Australians love a good juicy sex scandal and love pictures of male genitalia to flash on the media. The mean knew that if they whipped out their penis and put it in a lot of women that the media would eventually find out. You clearly don’t know men at all.
Agreed. Although it would be a Libel suit, as it’s written, not spoken.
If you take your dick out and let someone photograph you with it out, it is YOUR FAULT when it ends up on the Internet. No matter who you are. You don’t want nude photos on the net, don’t let people have access to them. Yes, she shouldn’t have posted them on facebook, but really, that’s not the issue here. I can understand the men getting orders to have the photos removed, but the collective power of the AFL being brought down on this girl is overkill.
Im not trying to cause trouble but I dont belive this girl would sue. In what ive seen the thing about sueing is more about making a threat to make someone shutup. am happy to discuss it with veronica in twitter dm.
Wanderlust the Americans have more of a culture of free speech and scrutiny of public figures. If they are going to engage in a pursuit of her under copyright/censorship regimes, (which puts them on a par with the Church of Scientology) then it shows their desparation.
They are acting like thugs. If they do pursue her for copyright or defamation, she would be in a much better position in the US with it’s strong fair use rights and first amendment protection re: free speech.
They are indeed acting like thugs. Trying to do whatever they can to either discredit her, or scare her into silence.
Um in regards to copywrite doesnt that mean the items have to be copywrited?
Beautifully put Veronica,
I have been stunned by the violence incited in both men and women toward her and how the presumption by the public (some) and media is that she deserves every terrible thing, that she should, as we might once have done, be publically stoned. The presumption is that she is a vixen and in the old partriarchal view of women, a seducer who swayed man away from God (football).
This experience has shown me that we havent moved all that far psychologically. The collective unconscious still points the sordid finger at the woman (girl in this case) and the fire and brimstone hailed by the AFL can be likened to that of a dark god’s wrath–so embarrasingly old testament.
Despite knowing the facts, they’re out there in the firing squad and assuming the evil is female.
Does the AFL think we’re all stupid and cant see the hypocrisy and lies demonstrated by the boys in “their” club (on not just this occasion but many)?
Public and media are all behaving as if we were all saintly virgins in Eden before this snake came along.
Clearly this story (for the girl at the centre of it) has been going on for some 12 months+ and it’s been a grubby road full of disregard and deceipt toward her…she has had to learn to play the game. All on her own.
The whole subject became public not of her own doing. Faced with a media frenzy back in early 2010, under enormous pressure (for one so young…I can tell you now I’d have probably knocked myself) she turned instead to face the fire.
Her bad behaviour is, as some of us come to learn in hindsight, is purely acting out. They stole her voice, her friends became voyuers, even her own family tried to shut her down…and so she reached out to you and I –and exposed the lot of them. But of course in doing so, taking matters into our own hands in this ‘airing of dirty laundry’ we cant help but discredit ourselves. High price to pay…but not without redemeption. (she can become an advocate. )
I wish, for her, she had made better choices, but that begins with her being given better options instead of having them removed at every angle.
Starry-eyed teenagers (f&m) will always go through phases of projecting onto idols- buffed, good looking, sports stars, popstars, tv personalities, teachers etc. Most of the time ordinary people dont get the chance to get up-close-and-personal with high profile people. They’re just posters on a wall…So when there is no degree of separation…
It all comes back to the adult showing due care. How adults respond to teenage attention is key to this.
No doubt Sam Gilbert thought it titillating to share ‘what goes on in Vegas’…
No doubt a duty of care was breached and the boys have locked arms, grid style, to take down a child.
I love my football but I dont wear rose-coloured glasses to watch the game.
Bad behaviour is bad behaviour full stop.
Dakota
I agree. Through social media, she is taking her voice back and they don’t like it. The AFL is proving themselves to be nothing but bullies, who scream and swear when we, the general public, dare accuse their boys of something. Footballer pack mentality. Scary.
And the growing number of fake Twiitter and Facebook profiles popping up attacking anyone that gives the girl one tiny bit of support or criticises the AFL.
That is what is really worrying. I mentioned up above in the comments about astroturfing – which is basically a PR company or something similar, paying people to comment and derail intelligent conversation about an issue, turning it into nothing but abuse and arguments.
I think this is what’s happening on her actual blog, because an awful lot of the commenters doing the attacking have private profiles – I’m assuming so that we can’t see when they signed up for a profile to begin with. I was grumped at when I mentioned astroturfing over there and what I actually said wasn’t addressed, someone just tried to draw me into an argument. Which pretty much proved my point.
I guess I’ve been living under a rock.
It is terrible though.
The footballers are adults and should have known better in the first place than to get involved with a girl.
I’ll forgive you your rockdom, with everything you’ve had going on.
Exactly. She’s very young and they should have known better.
In re to the fake profiles, interestingly I had one of ‘these’ say to one of my posts that I had ‘ulterior motives in [my] trying to get the young girl to talk with Hinch’. They went on to say that she has mediation in Jan so bascially suggesting she shouldnt be talking to anyone else.
When I tried to reply to the absurdity of my having ‘ulterior motives’, (I mean we’re in a public domain and I am one of many people offering heartfelt support. And, secondly I cannot ‘make her’ talk to anyone. She doesnt even know me!
Mediation in Jan is set to happen between the ‘big boys’. And it’s is precisely why I would suggest she were properly heard/represented and had some truth out there so as to hold them to account) but there was no option to reply. It was disabled. They were not accepting comment.
Interesting.
I laughed. It’s so corrupt and it makes me ashamed to be Australian.
This is the sort of Hollywood shit you see in movies…
Let’s be reminded… it’s a football game. It’s not even a global game. In fact most other states in Australia dont even give a shit. It’s just a big deal in Victoria.
Football. Not politics or espionage. Not ASIO or sensitive diplomatic material.
And they’re out protecting it with cyber-thugs like the world depended on it.
Something big to hide? You bet.
Dakota
The fake profiles are increasingly annoying. They’ve stopped any kind of information sharing in her comment section, and just turned it into a bun fight. The sensible suggestions are being shouted down and lost amongst the noise.
So frustrating. I’ve had it happen here and it’s annoying.
To a certain extent I think you’re right. But at the same time, the girl’s own actions brought about the result that she is so aggrieved with, and she’s stolen photographs in order to humilate 3 people. That those people are well known footballers shouldn’t matter. She then lied about taking the photos herself, no doubt in an attempt to garner further humiliation for those 3 people.
Make no mistake, the trouble this girl is in is predominantly the fault of one person. That certainly doesn’t justify public sniping and ridicule of her personally. But it’s absurd to blame others for her current position, and saying that just because she is 17 she doesn’t have to take responsibility for her actions is just as absurd. Why isn’t everyone defending her? Because her actions are incredibly hard to defend. Hopefully she gets through this as a better person.
I am not making excuses for her actions, nor am I defending them. I’m saying the way the AFL and media are handling this is disgusting.
I’m not quite sure what she has done that is so bad. She had a relationship with a player and was dumped when she fell pregnant. That happens to thousands of women and the men involved are labelled ‘dead beat dads’ not lauded as doing the right thing.
Maybe posting naked photos online wasn’t the most sensible thing to do, but she’s certainly not the first girl to do it and she won’t be the last. Personally, I think the onus is on the owner of the penis to keep it away from cameras in the first place.
Well said! I have been utterly disgusted by the media and AFL’s treatment of this girl. Yes, of course they would be mortified by her releasing such lewd photos, but if they hadn’t posed for them in the first place there would be no issue. Yes, of couse they should have asked her to stop posting said pictures, but there is no reason what-so-ever for this treatment she has recieved.
Truth. Asking for her to not post any more photos, is not the same as trying to destroy her reputation, which is what it’s stooped to now.
I haven’t heard about this in Ireland, but we have plenty of sickening sexual abuse scandals of our own (paedophile priests being protected by the Vatican and allowed to continue abusing for decades) so I understand your outrage.
My heart is broken for that girl. She needs someone to protect her. I really hope she survives it XXX
The Irish sexual abuse scandals made me want to cry. The cover ups were astronomical, I wasn’t quite sure how they’d manage it, but it seems they did. Sad.
I feel for her too, honestly, I think she needs all the support she can get at the moment.
I haven’t read all the media on this. As soon as I saw it was about footballers I turned the page. I did re-read a bit later, but thought at first the girl had got what she asked for. I read that she’d brought similar charges against others and to me that sounded like gold-digging.
I’ll admit I was wrong. I really don’t take much notice of newspapers, because I have no way of knowing for sure that what they print is truth or skewed.
Anyway, my point is these grown men should know better.
The media hypes them up as stars and heroes and they start believing that when really they’re just overpaid sportsmen.
The binge-drinking, sex scandal events need to be wiped out.
I watched a few press conferences, but started to get interested when they started skewing the information about the girl involved. Regardless of whether she should have posted the photos or not, the truth is, she’s been badly treated by the AFL. Sad, really, what lengths they’ll go to to protect their boys.
Definitely this.
I’ve been on about this on Facebook this week.
The insinuation – no, not even an insinuation, the outright suggestion – of mental illness on the girl’s part made me sick. She’s A GIRL. It doesn’t matter what she did, she’s still deserving of some protection, even against herself, because of that – which thankfully the judge made note of in the farcical trial.
The thing I’m most annoyed about is the mentality around AFL clubs of protecting the playing group no matter what they do. AFL players are far more invested in the game and their club now than ever before, but this idea that they should be bailed out for every transgression is bullshit. I am sick of seeing Nick Riewoldt crying on the news about something or other every second week. Mate, toughen up. You’re the fool who posed for the photo. And you’re not the only one suffering the consequences of your infantile actions – no-one actually wanted to see your man-zilian.
Exactly! What does her mental state have to do with how she’s being treated? Shouldn’t her mental state and lost pregnancy inspire more empathy for her, not outright attacks? I’m ashamed of the AFL and ashamed of the media for how they’ve handled this.
Footballers, no matter how good they are at playing with balls, should not be held to a different set of standards than other people.
I have been under a rock about this. I’d seen a few links on twitter but it was only when I read your mum and then your posts that I realised the enormity of the situation.
I think it’s appalling the way the girl is being treated. I can see that she’s been a bit daft but the way the AFL and their cronies have treated her is terrible. It reflects incredibly badly on them – they are just a bunch of bully boys. It’s quite shocking.
Yes, posting photos wasn’t the most sensible way to go about things, but also, they’d effectively shut down every other method of getting help. The AFL are acting atrociously and it will be interesting to see what kind of PR damage control they go into after this.
Nice to see someone else sticking up for here, one other thing to note is how the boys are defending their players in the same way as their heroes, they are slamming her, ridiculing her, taking the piss out of her, teasing, mocking, crude remarks… sounds just like their heroes doesn’t it? the same ones in which they are defending? I am a male and I love my footy- but this disgusts me- clearly these boys on twitter, on her blog are taking and following the lead of their heroes and verbally bashing woman in packs and mobs… here’s my new post on it: http://www.uncba.com/2010/12/st-kilda-school-girl-same-pack-mentality-meets-twitter-how-ironic/ – wonder how many feathers I just ruffled.
I liked your post! I think regarding the comments that they’re astroturfing her. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that all the private profiles commenting on her blog are either AFL PR consultants trying to turn it into a bun fight instead of a meaningful conversation, or AFL players themselves, trying to discredit her.
Astroturfing
I completely agree with you. This is fairly typical behaviour. It reminds me of the situation where when a guy sleeps with multiple women he is a stallion. When a woman does it we are considered whores.
Do I wish it would change? Yes. Do I think it will? No. Perhaps if a bunch of people take a stand for this girl we could at least leave an impact…set an example for people to remember it by?
I’m hoping that by taking a stand on this particular case, we can limit the damage to the girl herself. A lot of people have set out to shred her, which is why I think she needs the support from the rest of us. It’s a sad situation all around and the AFL are doing damage to themselves by swearing to sue her for every penny.
This story – like so many involving footballers and women – is disgusting. The fact that none of your readers outside Australia have heard about it is an indication of how insignificant these men really are. When are Australian women going to wake up, and stop treating professional footballers like gods, and start demanding they behave in a manner that is socially responsible, and not let them get away with this crap?
Truth. Outside of the country, they are unknowns, and yet, somehow, they’re treated like gods here. They aren’t gods, they are testosterone riddled men who haven’t been taught how to behave decently to women. If an ‘everyday Joe’ had of been behaving like this, he would have been in trouble and quick smart.
My heart goes out to the girl – they are acting like thugs…
Mine too.
In your post, you said: “She ended up pregnant and was treated badly by the AFL when she went to them about it.” How exactly did the AFL treat her badly? By trying to mediate the private matter between a girl aggrieved by an employee of the league? Bad, Bad AFL!!! If this isn’t what you mean, what do you mean by bad treatment? And were is the proof of this bad treatment?
On the Joel Monaghan photo, didn’t the people that put it up take it down when asked? I am sure there wouldn’t have been the issues for the girl involved if she had of done the same (or just plain not put it up in the first place).
On you St Kilda going after the girl like “a pack of wolves” to continue the analogy, if you start whacking a dog (or wolf) with a big stick, you would have to expect them to bite back! What will be interesting is if the club/players follow it up or if the girl keeps to not releasing more photos that they leave it at that. Its probably in their best interest that if no more photos come out, they leave it at that.
Your right that we all do stupid things at 17. I would say lots of us do stupid things at 22, 24, 30 and onward (hell everyones “hero” in this situation, Derryn Hinch, had sex with a 15yo when he was 35ish!!!!!) as well! Should “it was stupid of me” be a defense? I don’t think so, and so the Players should wear what was coming to them, as the girl should with what ever comes of publishing the photos.
On the “what if this was my daughter” question, if would be very sad, but I would blame myself partly that she was in pubs and night clubs at that age where there are guys that have nothing but sex on there mind, some of them even are AFL players, but they are a minority.
That comment you quoted was disgusting! Where is it from?
On you thought Australians were better then that, some are, some aren’t. Society is made up of all different types of people. As is the AFL community!
My last point is, personally, I think the only ones to blame are the players. I don’t understand why we expect the AFL or Club to wear the blame for this. If I speed, I don’t expect my employer to wear the blame for that! You might say the school clinic, but the idea that the players got the girls number there or even remembered her from the clinic, to me, doesn’t past the smell test! Some players are arrogant. Some are dumb and some think them above the law, but until there is hard proof that shows that they did remember her from the clinic, I find it hard to believe.
JMTC
Molly
PS. IMHO you should take out the silly comment “unless of course he was looking to get into her pants as well.” It brings what is an other wise well thought out post that touches on many important issues and takes away from it with out adding anything to it! In the end though, it is up to you.
I don’t expect the AFL to ‘wear the blame’, not for the actions of a few players. I am however, worried about why the AFL needed to get involved, if as you say it was a private matter between a player and the girl, and why they’ve been so heavy handed with her in the following days.
By all accounts the photos have been removed and threats to post more or not, no extra photos have shown up. We can agree that posting the photos in the beginning was a stupid thing to do, however once things are out in the Internet, it’s very easy for every Tom, Dick and Harry to save themselves a copy, copyright laws notwithstanding. What happens with the photos then is out of her control.
At the end of the day, I am not trying to defend the actions of the girl and I think mistakes have been made on both sides. Mistake #1 was obviously allowing photos to be taken in the beginning and not seeing to their deletion personally.
I do think that
the AFLSt Kilda management has been shown to be heavy handed in this approach, threatening to sue a 17yo for damages for the next 15 years? Those aren’t the actions of a business trying to mediate a dispute, those are the actions of a business trying to scare a girl into silence.The comment I quoted came directly from the comment section on her blog. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be a one off comment and the vitriol there is sickening.
I think you should double check, the AFL haven’t threated to sue her at all. Now, you could argue this is playing with words, but I think it really important to differentate between, Players and there reps (managers, lawyers), clubs and the AFL (i.e. Governing body of the Sport). The AFL haven’t been involved in sueing the girl. They may have been involved in the injunction (I don’t think they were but could be wrong. The AFLPA might have been but they aren’t the AFL either) but not in any law suite. In fact in an interview with 3AW, Andrew Demetriou said that the AFL wouldn’t get involved in any law suite (http://www.3aw.com.au/displayPopUpPlayerAction.action?&url=http://media.mytalk.com.au/3AW/AUDIO/221210_Andrew_Demetriou.mp3).
As for the heavy handed, they have been trying to help the girl with her issues (that others have noted as well). In all honesty, you can say a lot about the AFL but they try (maybe not successfully) to be good corporate citizens. If very organisation acted as they (I mean the AFL not necessarily the players (or all the players)) did, the country would be lot better off.
On the photos not showing up, it was only after the threats from the players lawyers (players or Saints, a little confusing as I think the players lawyer is a Saints Director) to sue over the photos.
I do agree that there are mistakes all around and that I personally would like to think that the photos shouldn’t have been taken (but then again, shouldn’t we have the right to take those photos if it is what we want to do? Isn’t my idea of fun, but each too there own).
I would just like people to lay blame where it should be and I think to be fair you are putting it at the wrong peoples door!
JMTC
Okay, I agree, playing with words, but a good point that we need to differentiate between who is and isn’t threatening to sue. Maybe I just worry about the culture of violence and sex that seems to be rife through all football clubs (“she wanted it, it was my right”) that women see.
I think if we have the right to take naked photos of ourselves if we want to, then we also need to balance that with the sensibility of taking them in a digital form. These men wouldn’t be the first people to end up naked on the internet without their consent, they’re just the first to be ‘big name’ with power behind them to make the news.
Is it just “all Football clubs” or is int rife in society as a whole and it is just news worthy because people want to read about AFL? This is not making it right be the way, just meaning that (I feel like anyway) the AFL is like the public face of this.
And on the “Bad Behaviour” of the players, I don’t know that it is a completely black and white issue. Forgetting the school clinic aspect of it as it is a bit of a he said she said situation, isn’t two young people having causual sex a matter for them? And then, if one, the guy, doesn’t want to continue on with a relationship afterwards a hanging offense it is made out to be? The issue of age is an interesting one in this. If the player didn’t realize that the girl was underage (or at least under 18. My head still spins at what the actual law is for age of consent, last thing I read suggest it was 16, full stop, not the 16+ as long as you thought the person was 18 I thought before that (which seems to be linked to the “special relationship” (i.e. teacher,etc)) I first thought) in the first place (I don’t know if he did or didn’t) what if the “break up” was the player finding her age? I mean its easy for us to say that they should have found out, but even one of the biggest voices of morality, Darreryn Hinch, was caught out on that one (http://www.hinch.net/articles_archive05/an_honest_mistake.htm). So, yes, you would hope that young people (players included, and they are what I would consider young people (22 + 24)) wouldn’t jump into sex at the first chance, but it happens. It isn’t an excuse but also isn’t unusual. Now if there was other things that happened (i.e. unwanted sex or group sex), that is a different issue, but (apart from a small statement in an interview on Adelaide radio when under pressure) I have heard that suggested. Some name calling, which again is unwanted, but again, not a hanging offense.
JMTC
I’m not quite sure why you keep bringing Hinch into it, as I haven’t mentioned him really. Yes, he seems to be the only one asking questions, but can we assume that maybe he’s learned from his mistakes? Really, it isn’t about who he had sex with though, is it?
I’m not making it out to be a hanging offence that he dumped her. I’m saying that the actions of the football club in the past few days have been shameful. She is one girl, up against a huge amount of power. Whether he should have had sex with her in the first place is debatable, probably not, but it happened.
I think that no matter how much you try and differentiate between what the AFL has or has not done, as compared to the Saint Kilda Football club and the players, it all comes down to perception. The AFL is perceived to be the Big Bad Bully here and they should be in damage control mode to try and fix that. And I wont even begin to talk about the St Kilda Football club.
My grand son will be old enough for Aus-kick in a couple of years and whilst I am a one eyed North Melbourne supporter. I think that I will be encouraging my grand son to play soccer. It is that simple.
Your right on the perception issue! Thats why I bother to comment at all. If no one points out the facts, the incorrect points are believed to be truth. I mean, I would like to see Veronica correct some of the point in the post now that it has been pointed out it isn’t the AFL Suing (for example, the comment like “with the AFL trying to crucify he” which I think is shown NOT to be the AFL, but I don’t think it will happen.
I also think that if you are trying to push your grandson away from AFL over this, your not understanding that this goes on all over society, not just in the AFL, its just that the AFL is a popular topic in Victoria. I mean, would you be pushing them away from the Police force as well? (re: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/accused-cop-suspended-over-sex-allegations/story-e6frf7kx-1225973567617)
I think from a PR perspective, perception is key. To the greater public, it doesn’t matter what the ‘truth’ is, if the perception of truth is different. I think that’s what the AFL has to worry about.
I changed that point you mention, to ‘the saints’ instead of the AFL, because we can agree that the Saints are being a bit harsh about this whole thing.
To say that I don’t understand that this happens all over society is quite insulting and your condescending attitude is starting to give me the shits.
Why don’t you pat me on the head and call me a good girl at the same time?
I am not in Victoria and I don’t read the Herald Sun.
There are so many layers to this story. There is so much more that we don’t know the truth about. One thing is for certain – everyone is lying to a degree. But even so at the heart of the matter is there is one 17 (and only just 17) yo girl, up against a football club, the AFL, the media, and the public.
Cry me a river Nick, you were posing for a nude pic, as far as I’m concerned you need to ‘be a man’ and take responsibility for that. He blamed his team mate, along with a ‘girl he’d never met’ all the while forgetting that he himself, rather than cover up, struck a pose for his mate’s photo.
Now, what you have to ask yourself is why are we talking about a naked photo? How is one football player’s supposed dignity worth so much more than that of a girl?
I was that girl once upon a time…no I didn’t sleep with a slew of AFL players, but I was young, impressionable and often equated love for sex because that is what so many of us are sold from a young age. It is only in hindsight that I can see that I too was fooled into thinking there was something more meaningful behind these casual liasons. That’s a combination of hormones, family circumstances, inexperience and immaturity. I am so lucky I made it out relatively unscathed. No matter what she says or how brave she appears she obviously was looking for something like love and found the exact opposite…(and as a footnote is it any wonder when we read about how the main male figure in her life is treating her?)
So yes I feel sorry for her and feel she needs both our protection and our defense.
I haven’t even got started on the massive abuse of trust and power not to mention total disrespect towards women. I see in one article it alluded to the girl ‘stalking’ Sam Gilbert. You know what I did when I was once stalked? I did everything in my power to get away. You know what footballers do? They fuck their stalkers! Fancy that. There’s another example of male privilege right there. Not to mention that this was a GIRL they supposedly met at her SCHOOL. Of course though she was up for it, she wanted it, she was a slut, a moll, a groupie or any manner of other insults. So was does that make the footballers who took advantage of her?? Why don’t we have a barrage of slurs to truly represent what they have done?
But even after all that…what really upsets me is that not everyone I know thinks like me. Which means that when my own daughters grow up and do something that would be considered fairly typical of many 16yos were it not with a football player, she will still have to endure this ridiculous double standard that makes it near impossible to stand up against abuse when it does actually occur. Lucky for her I won’t throw her out of the house when that happens.
I agree, if he hadn’t of posed for a photo, there would be none of this drama now. Keeping your penis in your pants saves your dignity. Especially with the Internet and social media nowadays.
I think that it’s odd that we have so many insults for women who sleep around, but none for men. Double standard?
This situation is wrong in many ways. I being an American only know about this from your mom’s and your blog, but it is completely horrifying. I mean we too have sport stars but they would never get the help from their Sports organization that these players seem to be getting. I mean we too have just had a sex scandal in our football world a QB was acussed of leaving crude messages and sending naked pic of himself via a texts, he was investigated by the NFL and fined $50,000, now the other person involved was an adult and that is a big difference as well as no physical contact was made, now why only the fine, because he admitted to the calls but did not cooperate in the investigation, where no pics where found to my knowledge. However I am fairly sure if we had a situation that this girl had at first, before the pics, the player involved would be kicked out of the sport if it was found to be true. I am disgusted but how this is unfolding ans I don’t even know who the Sports starts are, I feel for the girl. And that is all I can really say because even with reading the media and stuff I know not of the football mentality in Australia.
It’s actually strange for me to hear that your sports stars wouldn’t get the kind of support our AFL stars do. Strange, but good. I think our boys are protected, way too much, from everything they do wrong. For goodness sakes, they need to know how to live and work in society without being bailed out for everything.
Interesting! This was the 1st I’ve heard of this story. Hasn’t been in the US news at all. Here, there are laws that protect children (anyone under 18) from being held accountable for sexual offenses made against them by adults. They’re called statutory rape laws and child abuse laws. While these laws are imperfect because teens texting nude images of themselves, for example, can be charged with distributing child pornography, they would absolutely have protected this child from being accused of anything other than being a victim. These laws don’t account for common sense sometimes because anyone over 18 sleeping with a child or minor (ages vary dependent upon the state) can be prosecuted, but none of this would even be an issue here because of the laws we have in place to protect children override child behaviors, like posting indiscriminately.
To be honest, they probably didn’t even make the news in QLD or NSW – AFL is a big Victorian thing and that was where most of the media outlets slamming her were from.
they made some news in nsw. but it was more bad her storys if you know what i mean
Unsurprising how all the comments on here are from women and are supporting her… BIG surprise there! I have gone through every bit of this story and… i’m still actually waiting for someone to tell me (and believe me, i have asked many many women this) for the part where she was actually “violated” in the first place! I seriously am beginning to think that it’s just part of the female genetic makeup or something in that women must just have like a switch in their brains or something and the very second they hear another woman say something like “Oh that’s it! I’m getting this bastard now! ” then it’s just like that switch in their brain is turned on and they ALL just turn into like a stereotypical audience member of the Ricki Lake show with all this “You go girl!” and “Yeah go sister, you show them!” garbage. Ok… i will now go through this step by step…
1. Firstly the girl attended a party with the footy players (just like countless amounts of other girls do)
2. The girl obviously did what girls do at those kind of parties – had sex with them (which was consensual and she WAS of legal age at the time… even though she STILL lied about her age and told them she was 19 anyway, god only knows why) and then (in the spirit of what was going on) she took some nude photos of them – which might i add was NEVER meant to go public, it was just supposed to be a private thing between her and them.
3. She then a few months later, approached Reiwoldt’s manger and told him that she was pregnant (even though she wasn’t and… and here is one of the most important things of this whole scandal… she KNEW she wasn’t pregnant but was simply trying to stalk him) and the manager told her to get lost – which he had every right to.
4. Shortly after that, the girl then went to one of Reiwoldt’s team mate’s houses and while he was preoccupied doing something, she secretly snuck onto his laptop and found those pics and emailed them to herself – without his permission, aka STEALING.
5. A few days later she approached Reiwoldt’s manager again and demanded $20 000 or she would go public with the pictures and again he told her to get lost – which again he had every right to.
6. She then did go public with the pics and now it’s been exposed what she did and now the only and I repeat ONLY reason now why she’s trying to turn it into this whole “women’s rights” crap is because she is now being made to be accountable for her actions and is now being sued.
Like I said… I am still waiting for someone to tell me what was the supposed terrible thing that was done to her to begin with to warrant her being a “victim”??? And like I said… it really has come across to me from much of the experiences I’ve had with women, not just here but throughout my entire life, that for a lot of you – actually knowing what supposedly happens to a fellow member of your species when they do cry “victim” isn’t even required! For a lot of you, you don’t even need to know a damn thing other than just that the woman you are supporting has simply said something like “That’s it! He’s gonna pay for this now” Alot of you women have (just like always) gotten so caught up in this whole sisterhood shit that you seem to have forgotten, or just don’t want to admit, that SHE is the one who went public with this whole thing, SHE is the one who orchestrated this entire thing right from the very start. This was NEVER about anything to do with “women’s rights” or exposing “a culture of predatory behavior by grown men”… how the fuck can it possibly be that when NOTHING predatory even happened??? And to all the other women who have the audacity to say things like “Well, good on her! It’s about time that a woman stood up and exposed these bastards for the kind of things they do” Yes I fully admit that some footy players have done shit like that before and have treated women very disrespectfully, but… Nick Reiwodlt didn’t and never has and neither did any of the other St Kilda players who have been caught up in this. It really does never cease to amaze how hypocritical some women can be at times… let me put it simply for you ladies… I’ve had some real nasty ex’s who were just mean nasty bitches who no one really liked and were the kind of women who did not take not always getting their own way well. Here is the point I’m trying to make now ladies… can I now go and do something really mean and nasty to you SIMPLY because you’re the same gender as them and then label what I do as “payback” for men in general??? I already know what every single on of you ladies will reply to that, but I just wanted to ask anyways. Now here is another thing I just can’t understand what is so hard for you ladies to understand… ofcourse you would answer no to that question but that makes you ladies hypocrites because that is EXACTLY what you’re doing here with these St Kilda players for christs sakes!!! Yes there have been footy players who have disrespected women in the past but these ones never have!! If it wouldn’t be ok for me to do something nasty to you ladies as my way of getting back at a couple of my ex’s, then what is the difference between that and what this girl is doing now??? It will be very interesting to hear what replies you ladies will give to that because, just like with so many other things, stuff that isn’t ok for men to do to women but at the same time is no big deal when it’s the other way around is just one of countless double standards that most women don’t want to talk about but WILL happily accept! Ok, I’ve ranted enough now, so I’ll just sum it up… I am begging and I mean BEGGING for one of you ladies to finally tell me what this “girl” actually had done to her in the first place that supposedly “violated” her??? I mean that… one of you PLEASE tell me because this is yet just another of seemingly never-ending examples of the kind of behavior women do that just makes me loose faith in the female species in general, and that is sad because I know there are a lot of good ones out there. This was NEVER about “women’s rights” like this little mole is now trying to make out… from the very start of this whole thing, her sole intention was to try and blackmail money out of these players and the ONLY reason why she is now playing the “poor, misunderstood, harmless, victimized little female” is simply because her extortion attempts failed and now she is being sued – and good on the players for suing her! I mean that! It is about time a man finally stood up to a gold-digger!! Countless amounts of men have been the victim of gold-diggers in the past but did absolutely nothing about it because they were naïve enough to believe that just walking away was the hounrable thing to do and made them a “gentleman” if they did. I pity them because doing that doesn’t make them hounarable or a gentleman at all! That just makes you an arse-kisser!! I personally hope they sue her for every last cent she has! Hopefully it will send a message to all other gold diggers out there that this is what will happen to you if you do! Hey just one final question for you ladies… if this had been a case where a teenage boy had posted a bunch of nude pictures of a bunch of women over the net… would all you ladies be saying the same things you are now??? I SERIOUSLY doubt you would. I tell you – yes us men are worse than women when it comes to a lot of things, but when it comes to things like hypocrisy, double standards and just being straight out two-faced… some women out there just completely and utterly dominate those categories with an iron fist!! Yeah you go girl… to the bank and make sure you have enough money in your account to pay those players after the court case is done with cause you’re going to need it!
Wow you have some serious issues mate.
No i don’t actually… i’m just sick and tired of gold-diggers who see men as ticket to a quick buck! All the stuff i said in there is true though. I’ve lost count at the amount of women i’ve asked that question but am still waiting for a reply from them… what did this girl actually have done to her in the first place that made her a “victim”??? Just because a woman says she is a victim doesn’t make her one… she actually needs to be victimized first to be a victim!! It doesn’t take a high IQ to figure that out, does it??? This never was about “women’s rights” at all… that is just something she is now hiding behind because she was exposed as the conniving, calculating little extortionist she is. The saddest part though is all the women who are actually going along with it though! Unbelievable!! Like i said… can i do something to them to get back at my ex simply because they are the same gender as my ex??? Seriously, is it really that hard for them not to see that if the whole “standing up for women” is… for sake of argument… actually true, then that is exactly what they’re doing here! One thing i find ironic is where Veronica said “what would you do if this was your daughter??” Well Veronica… I would do exactly what her own parents did and disown her! Yeah – that just shows how much of a “victim” she is in all of this… her own parents have disowned her now! You would think that they would be standing by her and supporting her if she really was violated like she’s trying now to make herself out to be, wouldn’t you? I personally hope someone out there just happens to find some raunchy pics of her and publishes them over the net… will be very interesting to see what most women will say then! I doubt it will be the same as what they are saying here, VERY much doubt it!
I never called her a victim – I claimed she was being bullied and that we ought to stand up for someone who was being attacked by traditional media and the AFL and who wasn’t able to stand up for herself in the traditional way.
She hasn’t claimed she was a victim either, other people have slapped that label on her. She made some bad decisions and the reaction to those decisions was in my opinion, heavy handed and brutal on the AFL’s part.
Wow. Okay, firstly, my post was never about what she did or didn’t do, or what happened to her. My post was about the bullying way in which she was treated after the fact, by St Kilda management and mainstream media. That’s all it was about.
Secondly, I agree with frogponds, you’ve got some issues and please, don’t tar all women with the same brush because of a few bad experiences on your part. It comes across as nothing but mysogonistic.
Regardless of what she did, or didn’t do, I support her, because at the end of the day, like someone else said in her comments: if the worst mistake I make is to support a teenager who doesn’t need it, well then that’s better than failing to support one who does need it. (Blackmask said that, I think)
I wasn’t tarring you all with the same brush… re-read that all again and i did make the effort to say things like “some women” and the bits where i said that that stuff like this is making me lose faith in women… well that’s not exactly tarring you all with the same brush – that’s just being honest. I’m sorry Veronica but i’m not one of those kind of guys who considers it gentlemanly to downplay things and sugarcoat stuff when it comes to women… like i said i think that just makes you an arse-kisser. Reading some, well actually most, of these comments here, they came across very much to me as though your friends here were tarring all men with the same brush, but the thing with that is that when it’s the other way around… exactly as i said… it’s just no big deal. Also another thing i would like to point out Veronica… some (see i said some) of you women seriously need to learn that “equality” doesn’t just refer to rights but not responsibilities – you can’t have the same rights as men but not the same responsibilities – nope sorry, doesn’t work that way. You want the same rights – fine, but at the same time if you do something wrong… you get the same consequences as a man would get. Sadly that is one thing i have noticed that a lot of women do (and that’s not generalizing, it’s my honest opinion) is that you always make some excuse when a woman does something wrong and try to downplay what she did and try as hard as you can to make her out to be “simply misunderstood” Perfect example Veronica – the way in those two replies you were saying that she’s been bullied and that she simply “made a mistake” Uhh… SHE was the one who orchestrated this whole ting, SHE is the one who made this whole thing public, SHE is the one who wanted publicity and that’s exactly what she got! The only reason now why she’s putting on this poor little girl act of hers is because it didn’t go the way she wanted and now the players have actually stood up for themselves and making her pay for violating THEM (believe it or not, men can be victims too Veronica) You say she’s been bullied by the media… then why did she go to the St Kilda training session today with dozens of pieces of paper with stuff written on them and then voluntarily give an interview to the cameras?? Did anyone put a gun to her head and make her do those things?? Call me whatever the hell you want but it’s still true… alot of women do seem to think this whole “equality” thing is a 2 way thing – in that yes they can claim they are equal to men when something has happened to them and they don’t like it and want abit of fairness, but at the same time i have noticed that when women do something wrong and it comes to the issue of being made accountable for their actions… this whole “just as strong, independent and opinionated as men” stuff just seems to be conveniently swept under the carpet and alot of women actually do revert back to the decades old stereotype of women being so fragile and delicate and use it as an excuse for avoiding punishment. Sorry Veronica and any other women who might be reading this but that isn’t “equality” at all – that’s just double standards! Please answer this for me now Veronica… if this had been a teenage boy who had made public a bunch of nude photos of a group of women, would you be defending him and claiming that he “just made a mistake”?? Like i’ve said a couple of time now – i seriously doubt it… just as i also doubt that if i were a woman here pointing out examples of men’s bad sides that you would be saying i’m bitter… i bet it would probably more likely be that you would be commending me and saying something like “good on you for standing up for yourself” The only victims i see in this whole thing are the St Kilda players and i mean it when i say good on them for suing her… she violated them and she knew full well what she was doing when she did that and i am glad that for once the man didn’t just walk away because he thought it was honorable to do so! If you have been victimized by another person then why the hell should gender decide whether or not it’s socially acceptable for you to then go and do something about it??
I think if it were a teenage boy, it never would have gotten to this point. I disagree with her posting the photos, I always have. I think that wasn’t the way for her to achieve her goals – whatever those may be. My pointing out that she made a mistake was in regards to her relationship with the footballer originally.
At the end of the day, I’ve never defended her actions – my posts haven’t been about that. I don’t care what she has, or hasn’t done, or what she is trying to achieve. I care that the AFL and traditional media outlets were bullying her. Their heavyhandedness was, in my opinion, overkill.
Ok, i’ll just point out a few more things and then let’s call it a truce ok Veronica? Firstly (and i know that you’re not doing this on purpose but still) saying that her mistake was in regards to her relationship with the footballer. Again… no one put a gun to her head and made her, did they? And for that matter… it seems like you’re still implying that he is the one who did the bad things here by the way you just said that. Sigh… why did I even bother saying that men can be victims too?? Some people will just never allow themselves to accept that possibility. Anyways… she chose to have a relationship with him out of her own free will, didn’t she? Wasn’t the thing that the feminists always said was “No we’re not man-haters, we’re just simply fighting to give women choice”? Throughout this entire scandal, absolutely everything she has done has been entirely by her own choice and out of her own free will. I know we will disagree about this but personally i think this is just another example of the way some women seem to want equality to only be applicable when it is convenient to be. Like i said a couple of times… if you really want true equality then you have to have both equal rights and equal responsibilities AND you have to have them 100% of the time or… you have nothing at all! This girl knew exactly what she was doing every step of the way throughout this whole thing, she was the one who orchestrated this whole thing, no one forced her to do anything against her will and now she wants to cry about it simply because her extortion attempt failed… sorry hun but you played with matches and you got burned – simple as that. Also where you said that you don’t think it would have gone this far had it been a teenage boy… yeah I actually agree with you there! I think it would have gone much much further actually and there would have been a very real possibility that he would have been facing criminal charges for it! And I am 150 million percent sure that all the things that a lot of women are saying now would be the absolute complete opposite too! At the end of the day… you say the media has been bullying her… well you reap what you sow – she wanted publicity and attention and that is exactly what she got. Just because it didn’t go the way she had intended doesn’t entitle her to sympathy… well least not as far as I’m concerned. I noticed you haven’t said anything in regards to the actual footballers themselves and their rights in all this. For sake of argument Veronica… what if you had been one of those St Kilda footy players (yes I know that would mean having to change gender but I’m just doing one of those “for sake of argument” questions here) and someone had stolen personal pics of you and made them public without your consent? Bet you wouldn’t like it would you Veronica? But… it happened to men so you don’t really care do you? Be honest now – you don’t do you? Anyways… all I know is that when the court does order this gold-digging little mole to pay… I’m personally going to have a beer to celebrate ? Good night Veronica and sweet dreams.
No one put a gun to her head, but no one ever put a gun to my head and I can certainly say that I made some huge mistakes when I was her age. As for feminists fighting for choice, well isn’t that it exactly? Didn’t she get to choose? And then when it went bad, she got to choose how she handled it.
I *do* think she’s been treated badly because she is a female, taking on a male institution.
As for it being different if this was a male v female situation, look at the Fevola – Bingle issue. No charges were ever laid there and she wasn’t posed for her photo.
I do agree that men can be victims and yes, it’s all been caught up in the issue of the photos, but don’t you think the photos could be a smoke-screen, a very handy PR tool for diverting attention away from the bullying and lies that the AFL have told?
Also, I’ve warned others, no name calling here. You can argue your point, but if you can’t do it without name calling, then I’ll start editing your comments to remove the slurs. Defamation still counts, even if it’s just in the comment section of a blog.
Well actually the only reason i came back on here Veronica was just because i suddenly remembered one little thing that i left out of my last comment there and just wanted to quickly mention it, so i will and i’ll also just return your last few there. Ok firstly… this is the part i forgot… i never asked if you thought it would go this far if it had been a guy who had done this to a bunch of women – i asked if you would be excusing what he did and simply making out that he “made a mistake”? I’ll take your reluctance to give a straight answer (along with your very obvious views on the issue of when women do things wrong) as your answer being no you wouldn’t be saying those things about him… Jesus, why am i sugar coating there?? Ofcourse you bloody well wouldn’t!! Reading your comments makes that very clear! Hey also you made yourself sound dumb there – “And then when it went bad, she got to choose how she handled it.” Uhh… yes that’s the whole bloody point I’ve been trying to make for christs sake! You’ve been saying the media has been virtually terrorizing her and hounding her… well like I said – did anyone force her to go to the Saints training session today?? She went there with dozens of leaflets with stuff written on them, most of which were straight out lies – like one I saw had the word hush written on it but she had written it as “hu$h” Umm… they never gave her any money – SHE was the only one who demanded (sorry I mean tried to extort) money out of this whole thing, not them – they offered her counseling, not money. Also she voluntarily spoke to the news crews… put your “you go girl” mentality aside for a minute and use some common sense Veronica – how the hell was the media hounding her there?? I’ll give you a hypothetical situation Veronica… say if you’re standing in a small room and there’s a fire going on the floor and you keep adding fuel to it and the fire eventually gets so big it burns you… well that isn’t the fault of the fire is it? That’s your fault. Same here – what you said is just ridiculous! Ok, now onto the rest… yes ofcourse we all made mistakes and did stupid things when we were young but… did you ever steal someone else’s personal photos and then try to blackmail that person for $20 000 for those pics Veronica??? I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you didn’t and my answer for why i don’t believe that you did is because only an absolute idiot would call that a “mistake” Yes i’m aware that might seem like I’m contradicting myself there as you have already said that several times, but… i don’t think you are an idiot Veronica and i don’t think you really do believe that something like that is a mistake… i just believe from what I’ve gathered in this short time i’ve known you is that you are just one of those kind of women who just considers it her duty to always believe that the woman is the victim in everything… somehow… one way or another. I also believe you when you say that you do believe that men can be victims too – to an extent… just as long as both people are involved are men. I don’t believe you do believe that a man can be a victim in a man/woman situation though. As for your men vs women thing there… well that Fevola incident had nothing to do with gender. Firstly, she was having an affair with Fevola at the time and he took those pics with her consent… yes he did release them BUT… in that situation that is a civil matter, not criminal and if you’d bother to research that incident – she actually did commence proceedings to sue him but then abandoned that… my most likely guess is because he gave her an out of court settlement. This case is different… those pics were stored on the laptop of one of Reiwoldt’s friend’s laptop – a friend who had absolutely nothing to do with the pics other than Reiwoldt gave him copies of them… that means that the copies stored on that laptop were private property – she went to that friend’s house, secretly snuck onto his computer when he wasn’t looking and made her own copies of them without that guy’s consent – that is stealing which IS a criminal offence. I have no doubt that if Lara could have she would have certainly had criminal charges laid against Brendan… just like I would bet money on it that it would be a miracle to find any women out there who wouldn’t have pressed criminal charges against a guy who had done to them what this “girl” did to those footy players! My guess why that mate of Reiwoldts didn’t press charges is because he is probably one of those types of guys who I mentioned previously and he probably thought it was hounarable of him to do nothing… also probably another reason is because if he had then there’s a good chance he would have had the usual things said to him in most situations like this, such as “ohh you big wuss!” or “seriously, she’s a beautiful young girl and you’re having her charged?? What are you gay or something??” Ok I think that’s covered everything now, you know what… when she is ordered to pay up – I might actually get a fancy bottle of champagne or something instead of just a beer. I mean times like this where a man has not only taken a gold-digger to court but actually won are so rare that I might aswell enjoy it properly ? Night Veronica.
Hey I linked this post in my most recent post just letting you know.
Thanks Megan 🙂
Wow. As a young female I am embarrssed for this girl and by the comments left by most of the women on this page.
Ladies – you are defending an act that can be likened to prostitution and extortion all for the sake of standing up against bullying males. Men have bad qualtities and women have bad qualities but what you all are doing here is defending those bad qualities, however only on her side. You’re defending this girl for sleeping around, lying, attempted blackmail and extortion because you think she was bullied by the AFL – all of the things she has done can also be classifed as bullying.
Also Veronica, stop alluding to what you are and are not referring to. If you have and want to keep a blog with current issues on it be prepared to discuss all details, not just the ones you’ve picked out to back up your story. I mean you really have no idea how she has been treated by the AFL or the individual players and so you’re speculating on something you have no clue of.
The bottom line is:
This girl is everything that is wrong with young women growing up. She is using herself and other people in an explicit manner to garner support and money…and you are defending her right to do so and the treatment she has received as a result.
I hope most of the women on this site do not have daughters – they will no doubt be the ones who are 16, pregnant (to who knows) and standing in line for Centrelink. But of course, they’ll have learnt to defend this bullshit behaviour by all of you.
Finally, you find it disgusting that people have bad things to say to her. I find it disgusting that you can defend her actions and then again later defend her ridiculous reasoning for those actions.
You say ‘prostitution’ like it’s a bad thing, are we, as women, not allowed to defend prostitutes against bullying?
Also, this blog is a personal blog, not a news blog. It is opinion, nothing more and therefore I can pick and choose which details I’d like to discuss. Aren’t you also using opinion and conjecture in your comment?
At the end of the day, we do not know all the details of what happened and why. I don’t care what she did, or didn’t do – her actions were not the point of my blog post.
In my opinion, St Kilda were heavy handed in their approach to her and the Media outlets were no better. It is that kind of bullying and collusion that I am standing up and saying is wrong.
dont people realise there is male and female prosututes
Prostitution is a bad thing. So bad in fact that it is illegal in this country. So yes, I do not believe people conducting themselves in this manner, going against what our society deems appropriate behaviour deserve any kind of defense whatsoever. If you choos to defend them regardless then that is your choice, however, it is my choice to say that in doing so you don’t deserve to be part of our society either.
So your point is that St Kilda and the media have bullied this girl and painted an unfair picture of her, which I get. It is my point though that this girl started the ball rolling with her actions and her actions were also that of a bully. She tried and succeeded in publicly humiliating people for her own cause however because she is an individual you feel the need to defend her side.
The point you’re arguining about bullying is a good one. I detest bullying and believe we should be doing everything to stamp it out. My issue however is that you have not persecuted both sides by the same standards. If you had, you would realise she is just as much of a coniving bully and the reason she doesn’t have anyone or thing in her corner like the AFL is because she’s done the wrong thing and those with brains and power know it, they don’t want to defend her.
Finally, I understand this is an oppinion blog and so you can choose your argument. My issue is that you’re ignoring all points that do not fit in with the view you’ve chosen to take. The whole picture needs to be taken into consideration, not just the outcome (the AFL and media bullying), which came about through her actions anyway.
Who says the baby was even the StKilda footballers? afterall, she conveniently miscarried after a binge drinking and smoking episode…coincidence much?! think not, this girl knows exactly what she’s doing!
If she was such a victim, where are her supporters rallying around her at times like when she does stupid things like attending the football training a week or 2 back?! She is alone, with no one, and her lies will catch up with her.
I do feel bad for this girl, shes seriously troubled and should be in psychiatric care.
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