Garry Lyon has defended comments he made about Adelaide Crow Erin Phillips taking her very young twins out onto the ground on the day of the AFLW grand final.
Lyon was criticised by News Ltd columnist Susie O’Brien for being a hypocrite after he questioned Erin’s decision:
“To suggest Phillips did the wrong thing had the effect of highlighting her role as a mother and as a woman. Criticising a man for doing the same thing doesn’t have the same impact or power because men are not judged as fathers the same way women are judged as mothers,” Susie said.
“He was basically suggesting she should be back in the nursery, not out on the ground.
“Phillips was the co-captain of the first AFLW premiership team, best on ground and MVP and yet Lyon couldn’t just let her enjoy the moment — he had to tear her down.
“Lyon is wrong to suggest it’s not a gender issue because gender always comes into it when you are talking about parenting — women in public roles are assessed for their mothering skills much more than men are judged as fathers, so the same criticism has a very different meaning.”
But Lyon hit back at Susie, saying he had also criticised male footballers for taking very small children onto the field.
“I was commenting on a footballer. Not a man. Not a women. A footballer,” he said.
“I don’t care whether it was Erin Phillips or Jordan Lewis … I was just a touch concerned for the little, little kids.”
