Kangaroos greats slammed over AFL boycott as 'ridiculous' women's footy storm erupts

Yahoo

25-06-2025

North Melbourne premiership heroes Sam Kekovich and John Burns have come under fire over reports they plan to boycott the AFL club's upcoming centenary celebration, amid a storm around the champion women's side. The Kangaroos are set to mark the club's 100-year anniversary on Thursday week, with many of their 1975 premiership greats set to be in attendance, as well as North Melbourne's 2024 AFLW grand final winners.
All six of North's 300-game players will be recognised at Marvel Stadium before the Kangaroos' AFL round 17 clash against the Western Bulldogs. But club legends Kekovich and Burns are set to be controversial no-shows, with the pair insisting the Kangaroos should hold a stand-alone function to celebrate their historic grand final success 50 years ago.
The centenary event lines up with the 50-year anniversary of the club's first VFL/AFL premiership in 1975. But Kekovich and Burns are reportedly not happy about having to share the limelight with the club's AFLW champions. And Kekovich has made no secret about his plans to boycott the event.
Speaking about the situation on Fox Footy's Midweek Tackle, AFL reporters Jon Ralph and Lauren Wood said Kangaroos President Sonja Hood has tried to change Kekovich's mind, to no avail. It's understood the Kangaroos great feels the club has lost touch with its working-class roots and the area's historical abattoir workers that saw North Melbourne coined with the 'Shinboners' nickname.
'Sonja Hood has tried and failed to convince Sam to try change his decision ... but he's just not interested in that," Ralph said. "His stance is he feels the club attitude is representative of a club that doesn't revel in the 'Shinboner' history.
'My understanding is a really big slice of that frustration surrounds the fact that they have to share that event with the AFLW premiers of last year. They feel like... not that theirs was of a bigger quality than that, but (males) versus females. It's a challenging perspective."
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The club's decision not to invite all of its former chief executives has also raised eyebrows, with only club patron Greg Miller set to attend the 100-year celebration. But Wood described the proposed boycott from Kekovich and Burns as 'ridiculous' and argued that recognising North Melbourne's AFLW champions is just as important as celebrating the club's inaugural premiers.
'I personally think it's ridiculous ... the reality of this is, it's actually not a premiership reunion," Wood said. "It's a centenary event that was the first VFL premiership that the club won (and) this was the first AFLW premiership that the club won — and it was a really significant occasion,' Wood continued.
'The club has poured huge amounts of time, effort and money into developing this women's football program. (They are) really in the ground floor with that relationship with Melbourne University. This is a sign to the future of this football club, and the reality is, that AFLW is now part of the football club. It is part of the football landscape. Ralph added: 'You're going to have to embrace all the girls who want to follow the premiership dream of those girls... some of the 1975 (premiership) heroes haven't done that at all.'