Country league president reported to AFL integrity unit over alleged 'gender weirdness' comments

Kyneton Women's Football Club (KWFC) is considering legal action after AFL Victoria blocked its entry in a new league, leaving it "in limbo" and nowhere to play in 2026.

The Kyneton Women's Wedge-Tailed Eagles — which have said they champion diversity and inclusion — broke away from Kyneton Football Netball Club (KFNC) in 2024 following claims of disrespect and inequitable treatment. KFNC denies these claims and has maintained it has always been as inclusive as possible.

Kyneton was rejected by three competitions to play in 2025, including the Riddell District Football League (RDFNL), where it played as part of the Tigers in 2024.

The Central Victorian Football League (CVFL) then accepted its application with unanimous approval for the 2026 season, but AFL Victoria stepped in after an appeal made by the RDFNL.

There were many factors considered by the appeal board, including long-term sustainability of the club, participation impact on established pathways at other existing clubs and uncertainty around adequate facilities.

Weeks later, the president of the RDNFL, Brenton Knott, is alleged to have made comments in a leaked message to a supporter that the situation was "not about footy, it's about grooming and gender weirdness".

The message has been reported to the AFL integrity unit by Kyneton, which has called for a review of it. It was alleged to be sent via social media in response to a post on a public forum which was discussing KWFC's application to join the CVFL.

"You need to look at the other side. They don't deserve anything — you're advocating that any team that's not happy breaks away," the alleged message from Knott, which has been seen by the ABC, read.

"How is that manageable by the AFL? If you look at the principals (sic) in this — it's not about footy, it's about grooming and gender weirdness.

"You follow local footy so you need to see AFL Vic and RDFNL aren't the bad ones here."

In a response statement, KWFC said the club was deeply disturbed by the message, which was now public.

"Which uses harmful and offensive language in relation to gender diversity and inclusion in football," the statement by KWFC read.

"Inclusion is not a threat to football; it strengthens it."

Knott, RDNFL and AFL Victoria have all been contacted for comment. The Daily Mail reported Knott to have denied the claims: "The comments attributed to me shouldn't have been. I am exploring legal advice moving forward."

Last year, AFL Victoria did a review of the circumstances that led to KFNC's women's side breaking away to form their own entity, including their claims of a lack of support from the league.

Those findings have not been released, and KWFC has called for the full review to be released to the club and general public.

The club is now preparing to go to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to seek a review and overturn AFL Victoria's appeal to not let them play in the CVFL for the 2026 season.

Meanwhile, the Kyneton Tigers did not field a women's team in 2025 following the mass women's team departure, but are set to return to the RDNFL in 2026 following the appointment of Lisa Borg as senior coach.

Peta Turnbull, a 24-year-old player for KWFC, said the group has been confused since leaving the Tigers as to why they have found it so hard to be accepted into a league.

She said that while the alleged comments by Knott were hard to read, they gave her some potential reasoning for what was going on.

"I'm so disgusted (by the alleged comments), but I feel so validated in that there is something deeper, bigger going on. It's not just about, I don't know, us not having a great application, (but) something else is going on behind closed doors," Turnbull told ABC Sport.

Player and president of KWFC, Natalie Korinfsky, added that the club wanted the RDNFL president's alleged comments investigated by the AFL, as she believed it was evidence of his prejudice, which may have influenced the appeal board, given his position of power.

"We're deeply concerned that there has been some bias, and if that was the kind of rhetoric that was going around the board at that time, you know, no wonder our applications never got through to the stage where they were successful," Korinfsky said.

Turnbull added playing football has helped her socially, mentally and physically and given her life a lot of stability, which has contributed to the application rejections hitting hard.

She said it feels like the club is being made an example of after speaking out against inequities within long-existing football systems.

"Every time we get hit back, it's just like another punch to the guts … it really frustrates me, there's been so much advancement in terms of women and what we can do now and what we have compared to earlier on (especially regarding football participation). (But) it just baffles me how we're still so far ahead yet so far behind too," Turnbull said.