This week basketballer-turned-AFL superstar Erin Phillips was awarded the inaugural AFLW Best & Fairest award – the equivalent of the Brownlow Medal – at the AFLW awards ceremony and thus proving she is one of our country’s ultimate sporting people.
However, former AFL star Garry Lyon decided to instead focus on her being a mother and took a dig at her parenting skills.
Lyon criticised the Crows star for taking her four and a half-month-old twins onto the ground after her team’s historical grand final win.
“I was worried and concerned with Erin Phillips taking out her two young babies one in either arms,” Lyon said on SEN radio.
Lyon didn’t seem to have a problem when Hawthorn’s Jordan Lewis, cradled his tiny baby on the ground after the 2015 Grand Final win. Or when Swans star Jarrod McVeigh, brought his baby girl on to the field after his team’s 2012 Grand Final win. Not to mention the many other male stars who’ve done the exact same thing – including himself.
Lyon took his kids, aged six, three, and one on to the field with him after his own retirement game, and justified that by saying they were “old enough to look after themselves”.
So why is that?
Herald Sun journalist Susie O’Brien called Lyon out and labeled him a ‘hypocrite’ and the pair later went head to head on the topic on radio.
“Why does it seem that every time a woman does something awesome there’s a man standing by to knock her down?” she wrote.
“Not only does he come across as a grumpy old man who can’t see past his own prejudices, he’s a complete hypocrite.”
Lyon defended himself saying that regardless of man or woman, he would have been concerned for the kids.
“There was no sexist element in it at all. Just concern for the young bab” he added.
“I don’t care whether it was Erin Phillips or Jordan Lewis … I was just a touch concerned for the little, little kids.”
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