AFL’s great Nicky Winmar has canceled his weekly NAIDOC visit to northwest Tasmania following the “constant harassment” of his controversial coach, Ricky Nixon.
Key points:
- A campaign had been launched against the appearance of Nixon, highlighting his dealings with a 17-year-old girl in 2010 that cost him the accreditation of AFL player agent.
- The president of the local club said that Mr. Nixon was a “colorful character” who had “lent his penalties to his chin” for his past misconduct.
- Mr. Nixon has the Victorian equivalent of a work card with vulnerable people
Winmar was scheduled to hold a football clinic in Smithton on Friday and present Indigenous-designed football jumpers to the Circular Head Saints ahead of their NAIDOC round clash on Saturday.
But the visit was canceled Thursday afternoon, with the Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation blaming her for a “de facto wrong and wrong diatribe” directed at Mr. Nixon.
Nixon said “the actions of an individual in Smithton” meant that authorities had advised the couple not to travel.
“Nicky Winmar and I have decided that the priority must be, and always will be, the safety of the community, so we will not be coming to Tasmania this weekend on the advice of the authorities,” he posted on Facebook.
“However, we will help the community in other ways over the coming months, which we will announce soon.”
A campaign had been launched against Nixon appearing at the events, highlighting his dealings with a 17-year-old girl that led to the suspension of AFL player agent accreditation.
The local club president said it was a “big disappointment” that Winmar (on the right) was no longer attending. (LinkedIn: Ricky Nixon)
The AFL Players Association Accreditation Board found that she had violated her code of conduct in 2011 after the girl posted pictures of a man she said was Mr. Nixon, photographed half-naked in the bed of a Melbourne hotel.
Nixon admitted inappropriate treatment of the teen at the hotel, but denied having sex with her or supplying him with drugs and alcohol.
In 2015, he was arrested for allegedly offensive posts on social media where he threatened to assault a two-year-old boy.
Nixon declined to comment further.
Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation president Selina Maguire-Colgrave said the campaign against Nixon was done by a community member who “actively and deliberately undermined this opportunity for the community on the basis of misinformation.”
“We now have 5th graders crying as a result of the actions of this individual, who has now missed the opportunity to get to know their idol and hero,” he said in a statement.
He said Mr. Nixon had the Victorian equivalent of a Working Card with Vulnerable People and that the positivity of Winmar’s visit should not have been overshadowed by Mr. Nixon accompanying him.
But Smithton resident Melissa Wells said she publicly voiced concerns about Nixon’s previous “highly questionable” behavior because of a legitimate concern. He denied CHAC’s allegations that the organization, Mr. Nixon or Winmar, had been malicious or harassed.
He said he was simply looking for guarantees that he had a valid Work Card with vulnerable people.
“We went in personally and talked privately with the CHAC manager and tried to keep everything private, and our main concern was: did you have a Work Card with vulnerable people? So why? [wasn’t] I said that a few weeks ago when I asked him if he had a card, ”he said.
“I would still be worried about the possibility of him coming, but it would seem to me that he couldn’t have a clear and direct opinion on that because he has a card.”
Nicky Winmar (left) played a total of 341 games and was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2022. (LinkedIn: Ricky Nixon)
Circular Head Saints president Keith Billing said it was a “big disappointment” for the club and the community at large that Winmar no longer attended.
“This disappointment will be shared between people like school students and seniors [Emerton Park nursing home]and then, of course, football [community] and our club that they were going to have a chance to meet him and maybe he would sign them for his indigenous jumpers, ”he said.
Billing said his view was that Mr. Nixon was a “colorful character” who had “taken sanctions off his chin” for his past misconduct.
“I had no problem they were a package, obviously. Nicky Winmar trusts his agent and the agent carries the Victorian equivalent of a work card with vulnerable people, so the man should be free of walk like everyone else, ”he said. dit.
“It’s always going to bring some kind of dirt there, but it’s really not our thing. It’s how we took it.”
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Posted 7 hours, 7 hours ago, Friday, July 8, 2022 at 5:57 AM, updated 1 hour ago, 1 hour ago, Friday, July 8, 2022 at 11:58 AM