They stood up to a toxic boys' club. Now these women have been barred from the game entirely.

The paved footpath outside AFL House in Victoria isn't the ideal spot for a football team's training session, but this was no ordinary drill, this was a statement.

The women of the Kyneton Wedge-Tailed Eagles (KWFC) were making it known that they aren't giving up on their dream to play in their local footy league as their own club, and that they would take their fight to play to the doors of the establishment itself.

But the fight is turning out to be tougher than they realised.

Listen to more on this epsiode of The Quicky. Post continues below.

The Kyneton Women's team wasn't always the Wedge-Tailed Eagles (Wedgies for short). They used to be the Tigers and had been playing under the Kyneton Football Netball Club banner for the past 10 years.

They were a successful side, winning the premiership in their inaugural year and reaching the 2024 Grand Final, but despite the on-field wins, the off-field behaviour was growing increasingly difficult to handle.

"It was disgusting," said KWFC President Natalie Korinfsky. "You'd see dirty underpants everywhere, there would be blood and spit all over the toilets."

"Even during our games, sometimes we would be warming up to play after the senior men and general public, men, would come in while we were warming up and just go and piss in the showers."

The team felt that they continuously faced barriers around support, safety and equitable resources and when these things, along with the poor behaviour of the male members and players were brought up with the club, they found they would be promised results and then nothing would seem to change.

They even reached out to the league they played in The Ridell District Football League (RDFL) to ask for help, only to be told it was a club issue and they wouldn't be stepping in.

The final straw came when they stepped out onto the field to play their Grand Final match.

"The club scheduled a raffle on at the same time as our Grand Final game," said Natalie.

"Our game was about 15 minutes away, so they actively encouraged all the members to stay at the clubrooms and drink a whole heap of beer while we were playing our Grand Final in front of the opposition's crowd."

"That just really sent a signal to our team and our players and our community that they didn't care for us, they had no regard for us and they didn't support us and despite raising these issues with the club over multiple times, we just never got any traction and if anything, they pushed back really hard in a way that it became really volatile."

So the women of Kyneton made the bold decision to break away and form their own club and that's when the Wedge-Tailed Eagles were born.

Image: Supplied.

They submitted their application to return to the RDFL in their new club capacity but were told they'd missed the window to register for that season. They played on in other teams until the next window of opportunity arrived, only to be told that their new standalone club had been rejected. What the criteria for this rejection was remains unclear.

Not to be deterred from their plans to play as their own club, KWFC went down the road to the Central Victorian League (CVFL), who were more than happy to bring them into the fold with a unanimous yes vote.

Sadly, the win was short-lived. Part of the process of joining a new league means all the other leagues are eventually notified. When the RDFL, their old league, found out they'd moved, they lodged an appeal saying they shouldn't be allowed to play, which AFL Victoria upheld.

That's how the team found themselves standing outside AFL house, attempting to be seen by AFL Victoria, who had upheld the appeal without giving them the opportunity to argue their case.

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AFL Victoria released a statement that said "To be clear, the decision by the AFL Victoria Appeal Panel to uphold the appeal lodged by Riddel District Football Netball League (RDFNL) preventing KWFC's entry into the Central Victoria Football League (CVFL) for the 2026 season is final."

Image: Supplied.

They outlined four key areas as the reason for the decision.

Lack of demonstrated need — evidence did not support a requirement for an additional club in the Kyneton region, with the proposal relying predominantly on the redistribution of existing participants rather than sustainable growth in a limited population base.

Existing capacity — participation opportunities exist within the region.

Pathways — concerns regarding the impact on existing junior development programs and player pathways.

Facilities — lack of confirmed/secured appropriate facilities.

But Natalie says they have facilities that they secured through council and the opportunities for players are definitely there.

"We don't currently have a women's team in our region within 25-30 minutes and the next town down that does have one, is already full. So we do believe that there is a need in our region, especially for a club like ours that isn't like your usual traditional club, we're super inclusive," she said.

"We pride ourselves on having people that are First Nations people, people with a disability, people who are LGBTQIA+ we've got all parts of our community who love being part of our club."

She also said that when they had their application looked into by the CVFL they were mindful of the juniors' situation, saying if there was a need for juniors they would expand and if there wasn't, they wouldn't.

But they never had the opportunity to show that they could tick off all of those boxes.

Meanwhile, the women making noise over this have been targeted by some members of the community. Threatening letters have been sent to club members, property has been damaged and their sponsors harassed.

KWFC are also fighting yet another closing window of opportunity, with the opening of the 2026 season not far away, they need to be heard before they face another season either not playing or being forced to play back at the club that they suffered under for 10 years.

The good news, AFL Victoria have reached out for a meeting on Monday, February 9th with KWFC to see if this can be resolved.

The girls? They just want to play.

Image: Supplied.

If you want to sign the petition to help the Kyneton Wedge-Tailed Eagles become their own club and play on, you can find it here.

Feature image: Supplied.