The North Melbourne Kangaroos condemn the ignorant and hurtful messages Kyron Hayden received after a personal reflection he shared with our playing group and football staff and was shared publicly by the club earlier this week.
The purpose of Kyron sharing his story was to educate and raise awareness of the meaning of January 26 from his perspective.
The response, both from within the club and from many people who saw it online, has been overwhelmingly positive. As Kyron said, he wasn’t trying to put a dampener on anyone’s celebration, but simply asked for some sensitivity and understanding of what the day represents to him and many other Indigenous Australians.
"We thank Kyron for sharing his thoughts about Australia Day and stories about his family. We commend him for the leadership and courage he has shown and for trying to further our understanding of Australian history but we are all deeply disappointed that some trolls took the opportunity to abuse Kyron for his comments," North Melbourne CEO Ben Amarfio said.
"We will always support our players and staff who are subjected to racism or personal abuse and we will call out and report any online abuse to AFL Integrity and VicPol. We will work with these authorities to do everything we can to identify and seek recourse against such hurtful and cowardly acts."
The club stands firmly behind Kyron and all of our Indigenous AFL and AFLW players. We encourage those who criticised Kyron to educate themselves about the whole history of our nation and at the very least, respect what January 26 symbolises for many in Indigenous communities.
