what a pity that this article projects the notion that the young woman concerned is 'the first' to fight back or stand up to sexual exploitation and abuse by australian footballers. what about those women who have reported to police and who have thereby received abuse, contentions that they are engaged in making 'false' complaints and other such responses? women (of whatever age) who endeavour to follow the 'ordinary' processes whereby 'our' institutions contend sexual abuse/exploitation of and violence against women will be taken seriously deserve recognition and affirmation, not being written out of the equation and ignored.

let's affirm the courage of *all* women who report on sexual abuse, exploitation and violence against them, for particularly where the alleged offenders are australian footballers, they will generally receive short shrift.

Houellebecq, < I don’t think media pressure would make John’s apologise for all the other players in the room but I think guilt and some belated sense of shame would. >

They are not the words of an innocent person, I would never apologise for Something I knew I was dam well not guilty of.

So the men said she rejected some of them because they were not handsome enough. Like she would have had that power of veto in this situation, I don’t think so. Another plausible lie to make it look as though the woman was controlling the situation.

The same in the Brimble case, where one of the men (found not guilty of rape in a previous case) says Mrs Brimble jumped on him to have sex after having sex with all the other players who had fallen asleep. This is the same sort of cunning lie as the one above to make it look as though the woman is all for it. These blokes work out what to say between them to make it all look bad for the woman.

As I pointed out when we previously debated the Mrs. Brimble case, the time frame there from when she was seen staggering on deck with Wilheim (or whatever his name was) was 4.15am until the paramedics arrived at 5.30pm, and it was they who put her death at 30minutes earlier, 5.00pm.
This allows 45mins for all of the players to have full sex with her, fall asleep and then her to jump on one of them with abandoned sexual lust, waking him from sleep, a woman unconscious or very close to death by those time frames.

Yet these blokes tell these lies to influence the jury and the sad part is it works. This lie is very similar in it’s scheming purpose of making the woman look guilty as the one you mention in the John’s case, knocking blokes back who weren’t handsome.
It sounds like lies and it is.
If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck then it is a duck.

Jocelynne

Who says that the sex with the footballers (as opposed to Ricky Nixon) was exploitative? It appears that she was quite happy to have sex and only became upset when the relationship didn't end up being longer term. Don't blokes have a right to decide who we love?

The alleged victims in all of the cases that you have mentioned have behaved poorly and have been judged accordingly. The women in the St Kilda, Sydney Bulldogs and Brett Stewart cases were judged as liars, because they were lying. Clare of Christchurch was judged as a slut, because she had oral sex with blokes she had only just met in a pub toilet. If the next alleged victim has behaved differently, it is entirely possible that people will judge them differently. We are all judged, whether we like it or not. We do get to decide how people judge us.

Chezza

The media coverage of the Brimble case made the blokes look like the biggest tossers it is possible to imagine. This may well be accurate, but it is hard to argue that the media is particularly harsh on women involved. The media have also been quite critical of Sam Gilbert. His only crime was to have sex with a woman who he thought was 19. When he found out that she was younger, he cut her off. If he was wrong to have casual sex, she should also be criticised.

Cherful, are you Claire? Are you one of the football players who was involved in that incident? If not, what inside information do you have that qualifies you to make the bold statement that Johns was lying when he said that she rejected the ugly ones?

Believe it or not, some women are secure enough to tell men that they don't want to have sex with them. And not all men - not all footballers, even - are rapists. Most accept that no means no. So it is entirely possible that she had the power to veto the ugly ones. Unless you know otherwise, it's unacceptable to declare that someone is lying. Without a qualifier such as "I believe" or "in my opinion", it borders on slander.

Let's not forget that no charges were laid over that incident. No rape was committed, and Claire's former colleagues reported that she was quite proud of her exploits the next few days at work. None of this changes the fact that the incident, in my view, was disgraceful and a cause for shame for all involved. That's ALL involved.

'I don’t think media pressure would make John’s apologise for all the other players in the room but I think guilt and some belated sense of shame would.'

Oh come on he knew apologising was the only way to save his million dollar media career. The whole interview was staged for him to turn public opinion by the same network that employed him.

I don't know if I'm the first, but I'm willing to cross the gender lines and side with the girl.

Football is supposed to be about sport, fitness, healthy competition, etc. Instead it seems more about making money and not trashing the brand.

The media (ideally, of course) is supposed to be about reporting the truth. Yet they're in bed with the football code, as it is the biggest vehicle for selling newspapers in the state.

To be honest, I don't really understand what was at issue in this whole StKilda girl affair. She seems to be of age and capable of standing up for herself. I only hope that she writes a book one day and makes half as much money as some of the footballers and journalists.

My gut feeling is that I'm glad St Kilda didn't win the flag in the last few years. They shouldn't be rewarded with a cup after showing they can't kick straight with this and also the Andrew Lovett scandal.