St Kilda Chief Executive Officer Matt Finnis has praised the courage shown by Nicky Winmar’s son, Tynan, ahead of this weekend’s inaugural Pride Game.
23 years after famously standing up for racism in our game, the champion wingman has been a prominent figure in the lead-up to Saturday night’s game against Sydney, taking a stance alongside his gay son.
Finnis lauded both Winmar’s on Melbourne radio station SEN, labelling Tynan as a ‘hero’ for his bravery in standing up and making a difference.
“Nicky and Tynan have been terrific. I think for many fans, I know certainly amongst the indigenous community Nicky Winmar is seen as a hero for the stance that he took,” Finnis told Hungry for Sport on SEN on Thursday morning.
“But the real hero of this story is Nicky’s son Tynan who’s shown a lot of courage to come and talk about his journey as a proud gay indigenous man, but also about their relationship, a father and a son and that journey.
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“We think that it’s really important when you do a game like this if you can share stories that people relate to or people can get an insight, then that’s a really powerful way for people to understand.
“I just take my hat off to Nicky and Tynan; I think they’ve been wonderful.”
Finnis said the Saints were thrilled to take Yarra Glen’s trail blazing work to the national level after forming a strong relationship with the country club over the last few years.
“This all started a few years ago when country footballer Jason Ball came out and spoke openly about his sexuality and his journey and after that the Yarra Glen footy club staged the first ever pride game,” Finnis said.
“We’ve been part of the journey and we’ve developed some really strong relationships with that footy club.
“So we just thought there was a great opportunity for us to shine a light on that cause on a national stage because they’ve certainly done a great job on galvanising the community.”
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