{"id":200860,"date":"2025-10-09T17:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T17:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/200860\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T17:03:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T17:03:14","slug":"follow-scores-results-odds-squads-western-bulldogs-vs-essendon-richmond-vs-north-melbourne-st-kilda-vs-collingwood-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/200860\/","title":{"rendered":"Follow scores, results, odds, squads; Western Bulldogs vs Essendon; Richmond vs North Melbourne; St Kilda vs Collingwood"},"content":{"rendered":"

When former West Coast player Mitch Brown became the first openly bisexual male<\/a> player in the AFL\u2019s 129-year history, Tara Bohanna felt a mixture of relief and awe.<\/p>\n

The Carlton AFLW player saw the news online in August and recalled feeling grateful for Brown\u2019s candour and courage.<\/p>\n

\"Carlton<\/p>\n

Carlton AFLW players and their new guernseys ahead of Pride Round.Credit: Morgan Hancock <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s been in the media so much around when\u2019s it gonna happen, and I think it was such a brave thing for him to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t be what you can\u2019t see, and maybe it will make more of that conversation happen. You can start to be yourself and hopefully the men\u2019s side can be a bit more accommodating of that, because it does feel like it\u2019s something that\u2019s not as welcome.<\/p>\n

\"AFLW<\/p>\n

AFLW Carlton star Tara Bohanna.Credit: Morgan Hancock <\/p>\n

\u201cBut hopefully, it can start to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlton have unveiled their new pride guernseys ahead of the AFLW\u2019s annual pride \u2013 spanning across two weeks in rounds nine and 10.<\/p>\n

Designed by Vietnamese illustrator and graphic designer Zo Lam, the guernsey features ripples of the LGBTQ and transgender flag.<\/p>\n

Bohanna \u2013 who moved to Carlton this year following three seasons with the Suns as captain \u2013 said pride round was a key part of the AFLW and a special moment in the fixture for the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, there\u2019s a long way to go in the men\u2019s space, but from the W side… it\u2019s just the inclusion and how you can just be yourself,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs someone who is in a same-sex relationship, it\u2019s not something that\u2019s at the front of your mind, it\u2019s so natural.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 29-year-old met her partner Jade Pregelj when the pair played for Gold Coast, describing her as \u201cthe most supportive, loyal and caring person ever\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think about Mitch Brown coming out, and him having to struggle with not feeling like he can be himself,\u201d she continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t even have to think about it, it\u2019s just who you are, and everyone\u2019s so accepting of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

To say it\u2019s been a challenging few months for the pride community in the footy landscape would be an understatement. In August, Adelaide star Izak Rankine received a discounted suspension of four matches<\/a> for directing a homophobic slur at a Collingwood opponent.<\/p>\n

Loading<\/p>\n

Rankine \u2013 who issued a public apology \u2013 became the sixth AFL-listed player to be suspended for an on-field homophobic comment in the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

Geelong star Bailey Smith also copped criticism for his Mad Monday social media posts last week, referencing Brokeback Mountain with the caption, \u201cThis is what losing a granny does to ya.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown responded on social media, posting, \u201cLast time I checked, losing a grand final doesn\u2019t make you gay, but being homophobic definitely makes you a loser.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geelong later delivered a public apology<\/a> and scrapped future Mad Monday events.<\/p>\n

Bohanna, who will miss Carlton\u2019s clash with the Swans on Sunday with a foot injury, would like to see the AFL shine a bigger light on inclusivity in the men\u2019s league.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we do have the pride round, but maybe that\u2019s something that can be brought into the men\u2019s,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess the hard bit is just, especially in the men\u2019s space… is the social media side of it and all the trolls that get pretty savage to be honest,\u201d she said. \u201cWhereas, in the women\u2019s space, we probably don\u2019t cop that as much, but that also comes from the community being so accepting of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlton Pride group founder and president Dr David Gould said Pride round was about bringing the community together and reminding everyone that football was a space for everyone.<\/p>\n

\"Carlton<\/p>\n

Carlton AFLW players with Carlton Pride president David Gould.Credit: Morgan Hancock <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople on social media often will often leave comments saying, \u2018What does sexuality have to do with football?\u2019, and my answer is nothing,\u201d Gould said. \u201cWe just want to make the space inclusive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOften it\u2019s heterosexual males, a minority of them, who make it about sexuality, because they\u2019re the ones that yell out homophobic comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Pride round is a real leader in helping changing attitudes, and you can see those changing attitudes in young people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When former West Coast player Mitch Brown became the first openly bisexual male player in the AFL\u2019s 129-year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":200861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-200860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/200861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}