Overview

• Geelong issued a formal apology, calling some costumes and social media posts from its post‑season gathering inappropriate and a significant error of judgment.
• The club said future end‑of‑season functions will not continue in their current form and committed to further education on expectations and community standards.
• Midfielder Bailey Smith posted and later deleted Instagram captions referencing Brokeback Mountain and a photo of Max Holmes dressed as journalist Caroline Wilson.
• Former West Coast player Mitch Brown condemned the posts as homophobic and urged the players to do better in public comments on Instagram.
• AFL football performance boss Greg Swann said the league was not thrilled, noted clubs should handle such matters, and pointed to last year’s GWS sanctions as precedent if intervention is required.