By Hannah Kennelly
The president of the women’s football club that on Tuesday won a long battle to take the field in 2026 said she would go to police after she was sent abusive messages by the former vice-president of a major country league.
The AFL announced that the team formerly known as the Kyneton Women’s Football Club could play in the Central Victorian Football League this season after 12 months in limbo. It will play under its new name – the Wedge-Tailed Eagles.
Kyneton Women’s football team, now known as the Wedge-Tailed Eagles, will be able to play the 2026 season.Credit: Joe Armao
Before that decision was confirmed, this masthead revealed that the vice-president of the Riddell District Football Netball League, Andrew Power, had resigned following a series of questions from The Age to the league about vulgar comments Power had left on the women’s team’s Instagram page.
Later, Wedge-Tailed Eagles president Natalie Korinfsky described the team’s victory as “bittersweet”, and said she intended to go to police about a fresh message Power had tried to send her on Monday evening, which he posted to the club’s Facebook page, calling her “trash and a liar” and “an absolute c–t of a person”.
Andrew Power has resigned as vice president of the RDFNL.Credit: LinkedIn
The Age has seen screenshots of the abusive message, and asked Power for a response.
“It’s sort of a bittersweet feeling, I’m not quite sure how I feel,” Korinfsky told The Age after her team won the right to play in the Central Victorian league.
“It’s mixed because we shouldn’t have had to fight this hard. This is the kind of stuff we feel might have been happening behind closed doors
“Maybe now people might understand why we had to leave.”
The women’s side defected from Kyneton Football Netball Club last year after claims over inequitable treatment and disrespectful conditions, and has been battling to find a new home since.
The team’s entry to the Central Victorian league, initially blocked by the Riddell league in which they had played previously, was allowed on the proviso they drop “Kyneton” from their name, not use the Kyneton Showgrounds and play as the Wedge-Tailed Eagles.
Power resigned following a series of questions sent to the league by this masthead about now-hidden comments on the Wedge-Tailed Eagles’ Instagram page, including vulgar comments and jokes about being bisexual.
The Age has seen screenshots of the comments, and Power confirmed he made them.
The Kyneton women’s team has several queer, non-binary and First Nations players, and includes players with disabilities.
But Power said he had not resigned over the comments or the women’s team.
“I have resigned from the RDFL board for personal reasons, nothing to do with anything that is happening on social media, or a decision by AFL Victoria, or any decision that has anything to do with Kyneton Women’s Football Club. That is not why I resigned, but yes, I’ve stood down,” he said.
The Riddell league said in a statement it had not prior knowledge of Power’s social media comments.
“Following a brief review, Andrew Power and the RDFNL mutually agreed that his personal views are not aligned with the values of the league, its board, and staff,” the statement said.
“Andrew has resigned from his position as vice president effective immediately.
“We thank him for his service over many seasons and wish him well for the future.
“The RDFNL does not condone or support the behaviour reflected in those comments and apologises for any distress caused to members of our community.”
The Wedge-Tailed Eagles’ campaign to play escalated when they met with the AFL on February 9 to discuss alternatives after the Riddell league, concerned about the impact on its clubs of another team using the Kyneton name, opposed their application to join the CVFL. AFL Victoria backed the Riddell league’s appeal.
The AFL gave the women’s team two options: play in the Central league (provided they drop the name) or get an AFL affiliation where they would play CVFL teams in scratch matches but not score premiership points.
Korinfsky said players voted for the first option.
“Even though what we’re going through is incredibly difficult and truthfully quite distressing at times, to get these amazing people and organisations just throwing their support behind us just tells us that we were doing the right thing,” Korinfsky said.
“We’re doing it for our playing group and for our club, we’re also doing it for women, girls and gender diverse people everywhere in our country, to say, ‘there’s a space for you in sport, and you deserve to be there’.
“You deserve to feel safe and respected.”
In a statement posted on Monday, RDFNL said it would not be appealing Kyneton’s re-submitted application to the Central Victorian Football League.
“While the past 15 months have been challenging, the RDFNL respects the outcome and sincerely hopes the newly established Wedge-Tailed Eagles Football Club, the Central Victorian Football League, and the RDFNL each enjoy successful seasons ahead,” the league said in a statement.
In a separate incident, on December 21, Instagram media page Not All Clubs posted an alleged comment by RDFNL president Brenton Knott in a private message to a supporter, later leaked to media, saying the situation was “not about footy, it’s about grooming and gender weirdness”.
The Wedge-Tailed Eagles at training.Credit: Joe Armao
The league has since said the message was a “falsified, photoshopped and doctored image”.
The comment was allegedly sent in response to a post discussing Kyneton’s application to join the Central Victorian Football League.
“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,” said the alleged message, which has been seen by The Age.
“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.”
On February 6, the RDFNL published a statement on its website and said Knott’s alleged comments were a “falsified, photoshopped and doctored image”.
“The RDFNL and Brenton were not able to come out and deny these claims publicly during this time but can now confirm that these claims to be completely false and fake,” the Riddell league said.
“Brenton and the RDFNL can now begin the legal process of proceeding with defamation cases against those parties responsible for publishing these doctored images …”
The Age contacted Knott, who declined to comment. The AFL, whose integrity unit investigated, was also contacted for comment.
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