AFL great to fight serious assault allegations
Tara Cosoleto
AFL great Nicky Winmar will fight allegations that he assaulted and deliberately strangled a woman.
The former St Kilda star, 60, appeared remotely at a brief hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning.
Winmar, whose legal name is Neil, was charged in July with two counts of assault and deliberately strangling, “smothering or suffocating” a woman.
The indictments allege all three incidents occurred on July 18, 2025, in Melbourne.
Prosecutors had previously said they were trying to join the case on separate charges Winmar was facing in Kerang.
Winmar is alleged to have twisted a woman’s arm and dragged her by her hair in Cohuna, northwest of Echuca, on May 14, 2025.
It is unclear from the charges filed whether there was a single victim or multiple alleged victims in the two incidents.
Winmar’s lawyer, Dermot Dann (KC), told the court on Tuesday that prosecutors no longer wanted the two cases to be tried together.
Instead, the two sets of charges will be dealt with separately in Melbourne and Kerang.
Mr Dann said the Melbourne charges remained unresolved and Winmar was trying to fight the “serious” allegations in a contested hearing.
The lawyer stated that the facts of the case were disputed.
Judge Kieran Gilligan adjourned the case for a one-day hearing at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on August 11.
The bail period of Winmar, who did not speak at the short hearing, was extended until that date.
He will be tried separately in the Kerang Magistrate’s Court on January 29 for the Cohuna crime.
Winmar became the first Aboriginal footballer to make 200 appearances in the league and finished his career with 230 appearances for St Kilda and 21 for the Western Bulldogs.
He has battled various acts of racism throughout his career, including standing in front of an abusive Collingwood crowd in 1993, lifting his jumper and proudly pointing at his skin.
