Carlton AFLW star Darcy Vescio hopes lessons are learned from fallout to Geelong’s Mad Monday behaviour

Carlton AFLW star Darcy Vescio has used the launch of two weeks of Pride games to send a reminder to their male peers and the football community to not “minimise” the broader impact of offensive behaviour in the wake of Geelong’s Mad Monday antics. Vescio, the first AFLW player to come out as non-binary at the end of 2021, noted significant improvements in the openness of the AFL community and recognition of things that can “demean” people both inside and outside of the football bubble. They said former West Coast defender Mitch Brown feeling safe enough to come out as bisexual recently and the way that it was received painted a picture of an evolving society and showed men “they can be allies and proud allies, and that’s not something they need to shy away from”. But asked on Wednesday about their reaction to the behaviour of Cats players, including Bailey Smith, who was heavily criticised for social posts deemed sexist and insulting, Vescio had a clear message about continuing to meet standards and not be “punching down” that could negate the improvements. “I feel like (at) the Mad Monday celebration, people are in altered states and sometimes forget that they’re still role models to a lot of people,” said Vescio, who has designed the Pride ball. “And something that perhaps didn’t mean to be hurtful can quickly become hurtful when it’s picked up. I don’t think it is necessarily a representation of that person, and it wouldn’t be something that they would want their name to be attached to, but it provides opportunity to understand that what you do matters and what you make fun of really can create a lot of upset for people. “If you think it’s not something that you should be worried about, it’s probably because you’ve never been impacted by that or never been the butt of the joke. “If we minimise this stuff as well, it just sends the message that it’s OK for certain people to always be the butt of the joke.” Geelong has cancelled future Mad Monday events, at least in their current format in which players dress up, seemingly with little restrictions. Best and fairest Max Holmes was also criticised for dressing up as journalist Caroline Wilson. Vescio said they were “all about celebrating the season” but said repeated jokes had the capacity to “really demean and lessen how you feel as a person in society”. “I love a dress up. I love a wig. I’m all about celebrating the season, and I think it can be a really fun part of the year,” they said. “But I think just making sure we’re not punching down, ever, is really important and understanding that what you do matters. “I know a lot of players don’t play football to be role models, but you are a role model when you play footy and your words and your actions hold a lot of weight, so just holding that gently and understanding that.”