As Blakey toasts $12m deal at pub, an AFL exec’s wife is ‘struggling’
Updated . First published at
The wife of an AFL legend turned top executive has joined the voices questioning North Melbourne signing Nick Blakey to a bumper contract during the game’s trade period.
The Kangaroos nabbed the rebounding defender from Sydney on an eight-year deal reportedly worth up to $12 million.
Nick Blakey (second from left) with some new teammates. X
The move was agreed to despite Blakey and others remaining under investigation by Victoria Police, whose Sex Crimes Squad detectives are probing allegations of sexual assault inside a Melbourne hotel room in August, after the players had a big night of partying.
Blakey and his former Swans teammates Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, and James Jordon were suspended by the Swans for the remainder of the 2026 AFL season for serious breaches of behavioural standards, in relation to the night out. They also, separately, remain the focus of the sexual assault investigation.
The players, including Blakey, deny any wrongdoing and no charges have been laid. Nine.com.au is not suggesting any crime was committed by the players, just that they are being investigated.
A photo was circulating on social media on Wednesday of Blakey in a pub with several of his new North Melbourne teammates. The photo itself has drawn surprised reaction, given that Blakey’s life was turned upside down by the night out in Melbourne.
While the investigation is still ongoing, Blakey’s trade has caused angst among some sections of the community. Prominent social media page Not All Clubs Media, which aims to “empower women” and “call out inequality in sport” according to its Instagram page, criticised the Blakey signing.
One such post was from the Instagram account of Felicity Harley.
She founded Women’s Health magazine and is the wife of Geelong legend, former Swans CEO and now AFL chief operating officer Tom Harley. She was previously voted among Australia’s 100 Women of Influence for her “I Support Women in Sport” campaign.
Harley commented, “Struggling with this”, under the Not All Clubs Media post on Blakey. Nine.com.au contacted her on Thursday, but she chose not to elaborate on her comment.
Harley is not the only prominent voice who has questioned the Blakey signing since it happened on Tuesday.
Former AFL player Mitch Brown called it out in his own Instagram post.
“We can talk as much as we like about making AFL a safer place for women,” he wrote.
Felicity Harley and Tom Harley at this year’s AFL Awards. Getty Images
“But those conversations are ultimately meaningless when talent still seems to outweigh almost everything else.
“The AFL has enormous influence over boys and young men. The decisions made in our game send messages well beyond the football field. When football success seems to matter more than anything else, what message are we sending women?”
North Melbourne list boss Brady Rawlings was probed on what message the Blakey deal sends after the Kangaroos announced it on Tuesday.
His press conference was bizarrely shut down by the club’s media boss.
In a statement later that day, Blakey apologised for his alleged role in the night out partying in Melbourne.
“I want to say that I’m sorry for the events that led up to my exit from Sydney,” Blakey said.
“I know I have to win back the trust of the broader community, football and otherwise.”
