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St Kilda Football Club apologises for Footy Show’s pole dancing

St. Kilda Football Club was unaware its players would be cavorting with pole dancers in the Footy Show finale -but its players had been rehearsing for weeks.

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It really wouldn’t be a Footy Show finale without some controversy and this year it appears to be over some of the more risque entertainment in the show which aired last night on Nine.

The St Kilda Football Club has apologised after one of its players, Sam Fisher, appeared in a production number involving pole dancing and others were dancing with women in a nightclub scene.

“The St Kilda Football Club is disappointed with The Footy Show (Nine Network) and its ‘player review’ segment aired last night,” it said in a statement.

“At no point was the club informed of the nature or content of the segment.

“The segment certainly did not represent the values we aspire to at the St Kilda Football Club.

“The St Kilda Football Club would like to sincerely apologise for any offence caused.”

But a Nine spokesperson told TV Tonight, the arrangements were made via player management and the players had been in rehearsal for several weeks.

“When the St. Kilda Football Club dropped out of the finals we approached player management to see if they were keen to be part of the show and a number of them said yes. We already had a routine ready to go.”

Other players who were originally due to take part were unavailable due to injuries.

“The St. Kilda boys agreed, came on board and learned their routine over a couple of weeks.”

The finale also included a pre-recorded musical number parodying the Ricky Nixon / St. Kilda schoolgirl saga with its resident panelists including Garry Lyon, Sam Newman, James Brayshaw and Shane Crawford.

“The start of the show is parodying everything that has been topical in football, whether it’s on or off the field,” said the spokesperson.

“It’s an entertainment based show that we do every year.”

Source: The Age, Herald Sun

27 Responses

  1. The AFL show is an apology. I remember Sam Newman apologising to Paula Wriedt for his inappropriate sexual remarks during her interview on the Footy Show. This was shortly before a suicide attempt and although there was speculation about the cause, it was clear that she felt offended enough to seek an apology from Sam Newman. Newman faced national condemnation. It wasn’t really all that funny. How quickly people forget and mistakes continue to happen followed shortly by apologies.

  2. i would just like to add that, isn’t this a free country. Did they not have the ratings at the start of the show. Didn’t they also have the ratings at the bottom of the screen through out the programme. If people find sexual references offensive. Then don’t watch it, or turn the channel. You have the option before the programme starts. Maybe you should use your brain and check before you or your child watches it. If any kid watches the footy show any way. Plus its a man’s show, not a women’s. For goodness sake, let us men at least enjoy a blokes programme for blokes for once. If you haven’t noticed that there is more women shows on tv with a lot more raunchy stuff on it target for women then men. So if people want to open a can of worms. Lets party!!!!

  4. I didn’t have a problem with the St Kilda player taking his shirt off. However given the scandals that have occurred this year in the club – Ricky Nixon, the schoolgirl, the nude photos of Reiwoldt and Del Santo and the defection of Ross Lyon – you’d think the club would have tried not to add more fuel to the fire burning.

    As for the wowsers – well this came on near the very end when most children should have been in bed.

  7. Ah correct me if I’m wrong, but didnt Australia’s Got Talent have strippers as an act? and that show is suppose to be family entertainment. Get over it you wowsers.

  8. @ Steve – Totally agree, people need to get a sense of humour and realise it was made in good fun. Its a Entertainment/sports show, not a Today Tonight or A Current affair ( who try and make headlines ) with utter rubbish!!!!

  10. @Steve- if you’ve found things offensive in the past, then why can’t others find this offensive? It may not offend you, but it may offend someone else. Telling people to “get over it” or “change the channel” still doesn’t erase the fact that people find something offensive.

    I didn’t find it offensive, but I did find it a stupid move by St Kilda. After the year they’ve had, it just makes them look worse. Poor decision.

  11. What could you possibly find offensive in that? If you can’t handle something as harmless as that then go listen to the radio or read a book. How much of a brainless tool do you have to be to complain about the content of a television show anyway? The world doesn’t revolve around you and besides, you have a bloody remote for a reason! If you don’t like something then change the channel or turn the TV off!! How hard is that? Do I need to repeat myself one more time for the slow ones? Don’t like it, turn it off!! Got it? Or do I need to draw a diagram?

    And if you think that skit was tasteless for god’s sake what about Underbelly? What about every single program from prime-time till morning because the same stuff is in all of them. Hell even Home and Away and Neighbours have racy stuff in them considering what some people find ‘offensive’.

    People just need to build a bloody bridge and get over it! In fact usually the only people to find offence in these shows are those who specifically watch them with the intent of finding something offensive. But it’s brain-dead arrogant trash like them who are ruining freedom of expression. It’s people like them who got the Chaser’s War on Everything cancelled It’s people like them who need to get a life!

    And the NIne Network and the St Kilda footy club should have stuck up for themselves rather than being spineless cowards and giving in to the meaningless demands of some dried up shut-in who can’t stand the sight of bare flesh.

    I’ve been offended by TV shows before. Sure it happens. Sometimes shows are a bit too much, but seriously. Use your common sense. Use you damn brain assuming you have one. Turn it off, don’t complain and ruin it for those who see no harm in it because aside from what you may think, not eveyone sees the world the same way you do.

  13. Get over it people, pole dancing is a sport as well as peformed by professional dancers, the skill required is amazing and half the people who complain about it are jealous of the fitness and the bodies and the other half have minds in the gutter. The Footy Show is about controversy and entertainment and if you don’t like it then don’t watch it. Move on……….

  15. @Ann. that was a good one, very funny. Well considering the kind of year they have had i am not suprised at this. I didnt watch the show because my tv wouldnt work properly but considering they do this kind of thing almost every year i really dont see anything wrong with it. Infact the NIne Network will be fine with this it will give them free publicity, shame those P.C idiots havent relised that by now. I think its unrealistic to appose this kind of thing i mean arent they just expressing their inner animal in a safe and entertaining way what is wrong with that. i say nothing.

  16. Well I assume a good majority of Footy Show viewers are male… so good entertainment for them would be half naked women go up and down on a pole?

    My personal opinion is that it’s unnecessary. Like, the show really “needed” these women pole dancing?

    And mind you, kids watch the show too.

    I’m not fan of the objectification of women. Regardless of how the dancers feel about this, I’m just not comfortable with the thought of men in the audience cheering women on a pole…

  17. It was a poor performance to start with cos the players did bugger all was just about naked chicks on poles, than the players performance. It’s a players revue, all i could see most of the time were dancers.

    And yes it was in poor taste having a stripper pole and naked chick humping it. But agree with catherine, it’s particularly bad because it’s St Kilda. What a stupid decision by Sam Fisher for agreeing to that. Reflects a culture problem at the club. With the number of issues from the club in the past few years, mainly issues with respect to women, that performance did nothing to help their reputation. Clearly the message ain’t getting through.

    Highlight, once again David Rodan was phenomenol. Got scared for his knee when he did a flip.

  18. The only thing I had an issue with was its the players review but the stkilda players did nothing in it apart from Sam Fisher. The routine was just women dancers and this pole dancer that Sam Fisher looking at her like some desperate guy. He might as well put money in her outfit.

    If it was any other club they probably would have got away with it but with all the dramas stkilda have had with women over the years especially with what they went through this season it was just a stupid act.

  21. what a load of bollocks.

    Why the F(censored), should they apologise.

    For pete sake, The Footy show, is a blokey show about a bit of light entertainment.

    So those that take offence to it, so blow it out their a*ses!!!

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