Johns drama a reminder on behaviour: AFL - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Johns drama a reminder on behaviour: AFL

By Daniel Brettig 13/05/2009 07:04:50 PM Comments (0)

The storm surrounding the NRL following the latest revelations about the game's culture serves as a cautionary tale about the need to remain vigilant on issues of player behaviour, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says.

Watching his NRL counterpart David Gallop deal with the fall-out from the ABC's Four Corners expose on the mistreatment of women - with former player and Channel Nine personality Matthew Johns caught right in the middle of it - Demetriou acknowledged the need for constant education on how to behave.

The AFL unveiled a respect and responsibility policy in 2007 to educate on and off-field staff at all clubs about the appropriate treatment of women, in order to rule a definitive line under a trickle of incidents that had shown a plainly unacceptable attitude towards women among some AFL players and staff.

Two years on and there is still much work to be done - as evidenced by the North Melbourne "chicken video" affair - but there has clearly been a cultural shift in the correct direction.

"A lot of that was to do with trying to shift the culture and the attitude of everyone involved in our industry," Demetriou said on Wednesday.

"We've made huge progress but you need to remain vigilant and you need to continue to educate people about making right choices.

"I thought David Gallop yesterday spoke very well on this issue because I think he genuinely understands how important it is to be vigilant and we share those views because all of us are in the public eye, whether we're administrators, players or coaches, and understand our responsibilities, and we'll continue to educate people about making right choices."

Demetriou said he had not spoken with the NRL about the league's progress since releasing their policy.

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