West Coast Eagles chairman Russell Gibbs has admitted the club made a bad decision by not having a specific jumper for the recent Pride round of the AFL Women’s competition.
While the other thirteen teams in the league developed a Pride round guernsey, the West Coast Eagles claimed they could only manage to create one special jumper a year, and this year had opted to focus on the Indigenous round over the Pride round.
“Not having a jumper ready for the AFLW Pride round is something that we got wrong,” Gibbs told The Sunday Times in an exclusive interview with Braden Quartermaine.
“The club had been working on concepts and getting input, but it needed to be better prepared and certainly next year we will have a jumper and look forward to unveiling it at that time.”
The situation of the club not having a jumper drew more attention after the club’s AFLW coach said Pride had been “done to death”, comments that he later apologised for.
Gibbs said he didn’t believe Eagles fans held more conservative views than the supporters of any of the other AFL clubs, but the board was taking a cautious approach when it came to taking positions on social issues. Last week the club made a statement about Australia Day for the first time, describing it as a date which represents sorrow and sadness for many Australians.
Gibbs will soon conclude his term as chair of the West Coast Eagles and there is strong speculation that he will be succeeded by former Fortescue Metals Group CEO Elizabeth Gaines.
OIP Staff
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