Case may cost Dogs millions

THE Western Bulldogs are facing a multimillion-dollar payout in a landmark legal case over historic sexual abuse at Whitten Oval.

Adam Kneale has lodged a lawsuit against the Bulldogs in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

He claims the Bulldogs did nothing to protect him from convicted paedophile Graeme Hobbs, who was a “jack of all trades” at the club.

Wesley College paid out $3 million and Geelong College was forced to pay $2.7 million in similar sexual abuse cases in Victoria last year.

Mr Kneale is the first person to sue an AFL club over sexual abuse but other clubs also face potential claims. St Kilda was accused of failing to protect its little league players from paedophiles, with former star Rod Owen among the victims.

And a convicted paedophile ran Carlton’s little league team between 1973 and 1977.

Michael Magazanik, a partner at Rightside Legal who filed the case, said Mr Kneale wanted to hold the Bulldogs to account.

“In 1993, when he was 21, Adam told his story to police, and Hobbs and another man were jailed. But that didn’t end Adam’s suffering and he has now lived with the consequences for almost 40 years,” Mr Magazanik said.

“Adam is the first person to sue an AFL club over child abuse – but others will follow because there were multiple paedophiles involved in little league teams during the 1970s. Some of those survivors are also considering legal claims.”

Hobbs, who died in 2009, was a fixture at the Bulldogs in the 1980s when he was the under-19 team steward, a chairman of the fundraising committee and “jack of all trades”.

He abused Mr Kneale, now 49, between 1984 and 1990, including in “the grandstand” at Whitten Oval while games were being played. Mr Kneale was only 11 years old when he met Hobbs at the Bulldogs, which was then known as the Footscray Football Club.

Mr Kneale reported his abuse to police in a 5500 word statement, which led to Hobbs’ arrest.

Another victim also came forward at the time, with Hobbs pleading guilty to the abuse of Mr Kneale, as well as another child, with offences dating back to 1965.

Mr Kneale, who gave permission to be named in this story, wanted to speak out to help others, Mr Magazanik said.

The Bulldogs said when asked about the case: “Due to the sensitive nature of these issues, and the commencement of legal proceedings before a jury, the club is not in a position to comment further at this time.” However, Bulldogs chief executive Ameet Bains said before the case was filed that the club was “shocked and dismayed to learn about the terrible abuse suffered by Adam Kneale in the 1980s”.