In minutes of silence held across the country over the weekend, opposition AFL clubs stood arm in arm to take a united stance on violence against women.

The initiative, spearheaded by Eagles chief executive Don Pyke, was spurred on by the horrific reality that 28 women have been violently killed in the first four months of 2024, most allegedly by men known to them.

Those figures are almost double the already unforgivable count this time last year.

The gesture was an important one from a sport that has significant sway over the Australian Zeitgeist.

As Essendon coach Brad Scott put it: "AFL footy is really popular; a lot of people follow it … and wherever we can lead on the issue and say, 'Enough is enough,' we should."

Scott revealed the club had a personal connection to the issue, with Nick Hind the cousin of 23-year-old Clunes woman Hannah McGuire, who was found dead on April 5, and whose ex-boyfriend has been charged with her murder.

As resolute as the Essendon coach's take on the issue was, his response to a follow-up question on sacked North Melbourne player Tarryn Thomas was indicative of how far attitudes have to go.

In February this year, Thomas was banned for 18 weeks after the AFL found that he had repeatedly threatened a woman.

Scott said that in Thomas's case, his view was "one of support".

"Has he made some mistakes? Yes, he has, and he's the first person to admit that."

AFL needs to stop using the 'good bloke' excuse

The problem with Scott's comments is that the "good bloke" trope is trotted out frequently to excuse the appalling behaviour of men who commit violence.

There are countless examples of this in media coverage of women's murders, including when Rowan Baxter set his wife, Hannah Clarke, and their three children alight in a quadruple murder-suicide in Queensland four years ago.

Initial reports of the event focused on Baxter's rugby league career, framing him as a "good bloke" who, as Bettina Arndt suggested at the time, "might have been driven too far".

These are contraventions of best-practice reporting on violence against women, and further damaging myths that compromise women's safety.

None of this is to suggest that Scott endorses these narratives, nor that he is the problem. But for too long, the AFL men's competition — and the ecosystem that surrounds it, including the media — have endorsed these "redemptive" narratives when it comes to "good blokes" involved in the game.

Perhaps the most obvious is Wayne Carey, who in 2007 glassed his then-girlfriend in the face and neck with a wine glass, before kicking a female police officer in the mouth and elbowing another in the side of the face.

Despite pleading guilty to two charges of battery of a law enforcement officer and one count of resisting arrest with violence, before being released on two years' probation without conviction, he was inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame in 2010.

Just this week he was due to be elevated to "legend status" in the NSW Australian Hall of Fame, before the AFL reportedly stepped in to block the move.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said in a statement that the league "didn't think it was the right decision".

He added that he had called Carey to inform him that "being made a Legend would take away from the event and the important focus on the national response to the issue of gender-based violence against women".

This in itself is a sign that the AFL is trying to correct its course, but for many, it is too little too late.

AFL uniquely positioned to influence young men's attitudes

Extensive research shows the root cause of violence against women is gender inequality.

Our Watch's framework for the prevention of violence against women further breaks this down into four key "drivers", which include condoning of violence against women, and cultures of masculinity that emphasise aggression, dominance and control.

This is where the AFL is uniquely positioned to influence attitudes to gender equality.