The AFL has lost a second member of this year’s All-Australian selection panel after Luke Hodge joined Kane Cornes in stepping down to maintain his commercial arrangement with a bookmaker.
Four-time Hawthorn premiership player Hodge, added to the panel in February but yet to attend a selection meeting, said he gave up his spot to ensure the “integrity of the [All-Australian] side” was protected.
Cornes last week had no regrets about leaving the panel to protect his ties with Sportsbet – a company, he said, is “a major partner of everything I do”.
In a change of policy, Sportsbet said it would no longer feature any sporting administrators or officials on its platforms “to ensure clear separation from their official roles”. Consequently, Sportsbet also parted ways with experienced AFL field umpire Nick Foot amid scrutiny and criticism of an umpire being on their books.
Similarly, Hodge put his ties with TAB ahead of any form of employment with the AFL.
“I’ve done the same as what Kane has done – I’ve stood down from the committee,” Hodge said on Seven’s Agenda Setters on Tuesday night.
“Because you don’t want the integrity questioned of anything like that.
“I’ve had a long-standing relationship with TAB.
“I haven’t even joined a meeting yet with the All-Australian committee, so I thought it was the best thing after speaking with the AFL today that I’ll stand down and let the panel go ahead – just so the integrity of the side when it gets picked, there’s no question over it.”
Foot, a grand final umpire who this season reported Port Adelaide star Zak Butters for abusive or insulting language towards an umpire before the case was thrown out on a legal technicality, was a Sportsbet horse racing analyst.
The AFL added former leading players Hodge, David Mundy and Joel Selwood to the All-Australian panel this year, filling vacancies created by the departures of Nathan Buckley, Matthew Pavlich and Josh Mahoney.
The All-Australian Selection Panel (as named in February): Andrew Dillon (Chair), Eddie Betts, Jude Bolton, Kane Cornes*, Luke Hodge*, Abbey Holmes, Glen Jakovich, Laura Kane, David Mundy, Joel Selwood and Greg Swann (* have since tendered their resignation).
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
