GWS star Tom Green, one of the players fined following the Giants’ controversial ‘Wacky Wednesday’ costume party scandal, has described the post-season feature as a ‘line-in-the-sand moment’.
The incident, which rocked the AFL in October, saw 13 Giants players, including captain Toby Greene, sanctioned for their part in the end-of-season event.
The theme for the feature was said to be ‘controversial couples’ and involved several unsavory outfits and inappropriate skits.
Following an investigation, the AFL determined the incident breached its ‘unbecoming conduct’ rules and handed Josh Fahey a four-match ban – the most severe of all sanctions. Meanwhile, Jake Riccardi, Toby McMullin, Harvey Thomas, Joe Fonti and Cooper Hamilton were all handed two-match bans.
There is no question of unlawful behavior and there is also no question of unlawful behavior.
Green, who joined the squad for their pre-season campaign on Monday, has condemned the events that took place during the post-season function.
Tom Green has spoken out about GWS Giants’ recent ‘Wacky Wednesday’ party scandal
Thirteen Giants players were sanctioned, including Josh Fahey (pictured) for dressing up in unsavory costumes and performing inappropriate skits
“Not good enough,” he said.
‘There are boys who will miss games next season.
“It was a real lapse in judgment on all of us and it’s been a real learning curve.
“Both on and off the field, it was an off-season where we had to learn a lot and get a lot better.”
Green was fined $5,000 for his role in failing to show leadership, with Toby Greene, Lachie Whitfield, Connor Idun, Sam Taylor and Harry Perryman all receiving the same punishment.
The AFL’s Integrity Unit discovered through their investigation that Fahey had dressed as a former NRL player while Riccardi went to the party as a taxi driver. The pair had performed a skit at the event simulating inappropriate actions on a sex doll.
It is understood Fahey had dressed up as Jarryd Hayne, who was acquitted and released from prison earlier this year after rape charges against him were formally dropped.
The AFL said McMullin and Hamilton dressed up as the World Trade Center and simulated the September 11 attacks, while Idun and Whitfield acted out a scene from the film Django Unchained.
Green was among the players fined $5,000 for lack of leadership skills at the event
GWS captain Toby Greene had also spoken out on the issue, saying that ‘there were things we could have done better’
Green, who has played for the Giants for five seasons now, claimed the team spent the offseason thinking about the controversial side.
“Just as a leader … both on and off the field, I’m supposed to lead by example as a role model,” Green said.
‘At that moment I couldn’t do it.
“It’s been a reflective offseason and we have to get a lot better.”
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon then came down hard on the players, expressing his ‘disappointment’ over the issue. GWS and Captain Greene have both issued statements ‘unreservedly apologising’ for the incident.
“We believe this is an isolated incident, but we understand the seriousness of the situation and the sanctions reflect that. As a club, together with the AFL playing group, we take full responsibility and are implementing measures to ensure this never happens again,” a GWS spokesperson said.
It came after the Sydney club were knocked out of this year’s finals series by Brisbane, giving away a 44-point lead and losing the match by five points.
Green also dismissed claims that GWS’s woes during the finals series were linked to their ‘Wacky Wednesday’ feature.
The Giants have returned to pre-season training after suffering an embarrassing defeat in the AFL final against Brisbane last year
Toby Greene dressed up as breakdancer Rachel ‘Raygun’ Gunn (pictured) – but was fined $5000 by the AFL after failing to show appropriate leadership at the ‘Wacky Wednesday’ party
“I don’t think the things that happened that Wednesday are really related to what happened on the field,” Green said.
‘It’s probably more important that we get that right, because that kind of thing is just not acceptable.
‘In both respects that is a line-in-the-sand moment in the sense of ‘Right, that’s not nearly good enough on and off the field’.
‘The season ended very badly as far as we are concerned.
“There’s a lot of work for us to do so we can take the next step and go where we think we’re good enough to go.
“We have simply fallen short in recent years and that shows that we are not good enough.”
Toby Greene has also reflected on the incident, claiming he ‘wished we were better’ following the controversy.
“There are things we could have done better, both myself and as a club,” Greene told Channel 7 on Friday.
“We’ve learned them throughout the process and I think all we can do is make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
While Greene wouldn’t rule out participating in future year-end celebrations, he promised to “go with the flow,” before adding that it was unlikely the Giants would “do much next year.”