Two of the AFL's biggest clubs are facing uncomfortable questions this week about how they handle crises, after the public release of body camera footage thrust old problems back into view and a new admission from Sydney exposed an institutional failure during a moment of national tragedy.
The Hawthorn Hawks were content to keep news of two players' arrest in Arizona under wraps. Dylan Moore and Connor Macdonald were arrested for trespassing during an overseas trip late last year, with police detaining them in a car park on November 8 at 10:47pm. For three months, the club said nothing publicly. Then this week, body camera footage emerged, forcing Hawthorn's hand.
Coach Sam Mitchell addressed the footage on Wednesday, acknowledging the situation was "all new" to the media but insisting the club had dealt with it appropriately from the moment the players came forward. "They should feel a bit lighter and they can move on," he said of Moore and Macdonald. The hope was that public airing would provide closure rather than ongoing distraction.
The question is whether secrecy for three months was the right call. Rob McCartney, Hawthorn's executive general manager of football, said the incident was not made public sooner because "it was a current legal matter", suggesting the club prioritised protecting legal proceedings over transparency. Moore, who has since been stripped of the vice-captaincy, has already completed a diversion program that included 16 hours of education on alcohol and relationships and will also carry out community service soon. Moore has a sentencing hearing on July 13, while Macdonald will face court on August 4.
The legitimacy of that legal strategy remains contested. Some defend keeping the matter quiet while US courts processed charges; others argue the club should have disclosed immediately and let the players face scrutiny earlier. Mitchell seems confident the players can put it behind them now and focus on football.
At Sydney, the problem is different but perhaps more troubling. Sydney CEO Matthew Pavlich has taken "full responsibility" for the removal of direct references to the Jewish community from the club's pre-match tribute to the victims of the Bondi terror attack in Opening Round. The address paid tribute to victims of the Bondi terrorist attack but did not directly mention the Jewish community, with references removed from an earlier version of the script.
The script change was made within the club in a genuine effort to use inclusive language by referring to the "whole community", according to the Swans' statement. That logic has drawn sharp rebuke. Liberal senator James Paterson said it was disappointing "that someone at an AFL club believes it was inclusive to remove all references to Jews in a script about the anti-Semitic Bondi terror attack." The victims of that December 2024 attack were overwhelmingly Jewish, making the omission glaring.
Former Swans CEO Tom Harley, now the AFL's chief operating officer, appeared at the league's cultural heritage launch on Wednesday to back his successor. "The intent of the Swans was pure," he said, emphasising that the tribute was a genuine attempt to show compassion to everyone impacted by the terrible events on 14 December, and most of all the Jewish community. Harley acknowledged the error while positioning it as a learning opportunity for the broader football community.
Both situations expose genuine tensions in institutional management. When a club learns of player misconduct involving active legal proceedings, does it owe the public immediate disclosure or can it reasonably protect those proceedings? When crafting a tribute to victims of a hate crime, how does an institution balance the desire for inclusive language with the clarity needed to acknowledge the actual target? These are not rhetorical questions with obvious answers.
Yet the pattern matters. Transparency builds trust. When institutions manage bad news by delaying disclosure or altering scripts, the eventual revelation often generates more reputational damage than the original incident would have. The Hawks and Swans are both learning that lesson this week.