Winmar booted from Hall of Fame after assault conviction
Disgraced St Kilda great and Indigenous icon Nicky Winmar has been suspended from the club’s Hall of Fame and kicked out of the Australian Football Hall of Fame after being found guilty of three counts of unlawful and common assault in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court earlier this month.
Winmar’s legacy has been severely tarnished after he was found guilty of assaulting a woman. A statue bearing his image that stood outside Perth’s Optus Stadium has been taken down.
Nicky Winmar bares his chest at opposition football fans in 1993 (Wayne Ludbey/The Age) Wayne Ludbey
“A determination regarding Winmar’s ongoing place in the Hall of Fame will be made following the formal conclusion of the full legal process, including the completion of any appeal,” St Kilda said in a statement on Wednesday.
The AFL Commission has booted Winmar from the Australian Football Hall of Fame effective immediately.
“The Commission has a responsibility to protect the integrity and reputation of that honour,” chairman Craig Drummond said. “Violence against women has no place. Not in our community, not in our game, and not in the values the Australian Football Hall of Fame seeks to uphold.”
The 60-year-old was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2002. The induction was a reward for his champion career with the Saints and the Western Bulldogs, but he was most famous for taking a stand against racism, with a photo of him lifting his jumper to point to his skin, taken by The Age photographer Wayne Ludbey, among the most famous in Australian sport. It was that image that was depicted in the statue of him in Perth.
He is the second ex player to lose the prestigious title in the last three years.
In 2023, former North Melbourne, Perth and East Perth star Barry Cable had his ‘Legend’ status revoked after a civil trial found he had sexually abused a girl during his playing career.
In April this year, Cable was acquitted of historical sexual abuse charges in a criminal trial.
Winmar was convicted on three charges after he was found guilty of attacking a woman at Cohuna in northern Victoria in May 2025.
Bendigo Magistrate Trieu Huynh convicted Winmar of two charges of common law assault and one count of unlawful assault.
The charges related to allegations that Winmar grabbed the woman by the arm, dragged her by the hair and hit her head against a door.
Following the court’s verdict, Western Australian Premier Roger Cook immediately took a strong stance, resulting in the statue’s removal.
Nicky Winmar arrives to the Melbourne Magistrates Court in Melbourne, Victoria, Friday, November 21, 2025. AAP Image/James Ross
“Violence against women is never acceptable, and it is important we send a strong message to the community,” Mr Cook said.
“Following Nicky Winmar’s conviction, I’m of the firm view that it is no longer appropriate for that statue to be displayed.”
The speed with which that action was taken has divided opinion, with Australian Football historian Sean Gorman, who led an AFL review of vilification laws, saying it took away the opportunity for a robust discussion involving all the key stakeholders.
“This (Winmar’s stance against racism) is a big iconic moment in Australian history and to take it down in the way that they did it overnight and without the due diligence or messaging that they needed to give to the community I think is, again, problematic,” Dr Gorman told the ABC.
Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
