Tyrendarra axes – Tyrendarra Football Netball Club has permanently axed James Nicholas Williams after reinstating him last year following a jail sentence for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl during a team trip to Adelaide in September 2022. The decision came after intense
For Tyrendarra Football Netball Club, the welcome that once felt like a chance to move on has now turned into an admission that it went too far.
James Nicholas Williams returned to play senior football for the Victorian country club. Tyrendarra Football Netball Club (TFNC). in south-west Victoria after serving a prison sentence for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl during a club trip to Adelaide in September 2022. The club had announced Williams’ re-signing in an Instagram post on October 28, 2025. In that post. he was described as a “classy midfielder/forward flanker” and as “the kind of player who lifts the team when it matters most.”.
That message resurfaced during an investigation into how the club handled the matter, and it brought fresh fury. Former female players said they left the club after Williams was allowed back.
On Wednesday night, TFNC said it had listened to that criticism after “recent reporting has raised serious questions about a decision by our Club.” In a statement, the club said: “We have listened, and we accept the criticism.”
The club then spelled out the core of its change. “A former player convicted of a sexual offence against a child was allowed to return to our club,” the statement said. “That decision was wrong and we are sorry. It was not consistent with what our wider community expects.”
TFNC said Williams was “no longer part of the Club and will not return.” The club also said it recognised the harm done to “the victim at the centre of this case. and to all victims and survivors of sexual violence.” It added: “To anyone in our community affected by this episode and its coverage. we are sorry for the distress it has caused.”.
The club said it readmitted Williams after what it called a “careful process. with external expert advice and wide consultation across the Club. including the parents of our younger teams.” It said it will now bring in a binding code of conduct for all players and club officials. increase child safety oversight. educate players and officials on “respectful relationships. ” and institute a “standing committee responsible for child safety. conduct and reputation.”.
Williams’ case dates back to an offence committed when he was 20. In April 2024. the South Australian District Court sentenced him after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under 17. charged as an alternative to rape. Court documents show Williams travelled to Adelaide with teammates from Tyrendarra and attended a concert at Hindley Street Music Hall.
The court heard the 15-year-old victim was at the venue with her mother when Williams approached her and asked for her Snapchat details. Judge Michelle Sutcliffe said Williams kissed the girl before placing his hand underneath her skirt. Sutcliffe also described the moment the victim resisted: “She said to you, ‘No, stop’. You responded saying, ‘No, it’s fine’.”.
The victim’s mother intervened and pushed Williams’ hand away. Sutcliffe said Williams “immediately returned your hand back up the victim’s skirt and glared at the victim’s mother.” Security staff subsequently ejected Williams from the venue.
The court heard Williams then sent a message to a friend saying he had been removed after he had “[touched] a bird ha ha ha.” Sutcliffe described the offending as “forceful and persistent.” She added that “Teenage girls are entitled to feel safe. to be safe and have an enjoyable time; free from the worry of being sexually assaulted at these events.”.
Williams was sentenced to one year and two months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of six months.
The controversy around his return intensified after an ABC investigation and after former female players spoke publicly about their experiences. Megan Latham. a former Tyrendarra player. told the ABC she left the club after becoming dissatisfied with how the matter was handled. She said she believed the club’s stance suggested there were “no consequences. ” adding: “It was really disappointing and uncomfortable and frustrating too. that there didn’t seem to be any action taken about it.”.
Latham said it felt like “being a footballer definitely trumps women’s concerns.” She said she walked away without consulting management because she “didn’t want to go through the process of them justifying that behaviour or trying to convince me.”
Latham said she felt unable to raise concerns with people she had “grown so close to,” and she described sexual assault as “very stigmatised,” saying: “I didn’t feel like I could have that conversation or argument … particularly [with] people that I’d grown so close to.”
TFNC’s reinstatement had been defended last week in a separate statement. The club said it acknowledged community concerns regarding “historical matters that have been raised publicly.” It said it takes safety and wellbeing seriously and remains committed to “a safe. respectful and inclusive environment across all areas of the club.”.
That statement said the matters relate to “historical events,” and said the club had undertaken extensive consultation, sought advice from relevant bodies, completed risk assessment processes, complied with all known court and bail conditions, and taken steps it believed met its obligations.
The club said it would not make further public comment at that time because the issues involved “historical events and complex circumstances.” An AFL spokesperson told the ABC that decisions about participation in community football rested with the relevant club and league.
After Williams’ return to football. anti-violence campaigner Sherele Moody also drew attention to the case on her Femicide Watch social media platform. urging followers to contact Tyrendarra Football Netball Club. Moody wrote: “I need your help to get this child predator sacked!” She said the conviction and jail term had not stopped Williams from playing for TFNC.
Moody also referenced comments made by Latham and claimed multiple women had left the club following Williams’ return. “Meanwhile the club refuses to sack the player or even talk about it,” Moody wrote.
In the end, TFNC’s position has now changed. The club says Williams has been permanently axed and will not return, while also moving to tighten rules and oversight through measures including a standing committee responsible for child safety, conduct and reputation.
The reversal comes after the club initially welcomed him back publicly in October 2025—at a time when the harm at the center of the case, and the fears reported by former players, were never abstract. They were personal, immediate, and now part of how the club has decided it must respond.
Tyrendarra Football Netball Club James Nicholas Williams sexually assault 15-year-old girl Hindley Street Music Hall Victorian country football community football child safety Megan Latham
Wait so they let him back at all??
They reinstated him after he did what?? That Instagram caption sounds disgusting, like wow. Glad they kicked him out again but too late for the girls who already got pushed out.
Reinstatement sparked backlash… so basically everyone had to yell for them to do the right thing? Seems like the club just wanted “good PR” and didn’t care about the victim. Also Adelaide trip 2022, but he’s only gone now, like how does that timeline even work. Maybe he didn’t “learn” or whatever, idk.
This is why I don’t trust clubs like that. They always say family friendly then it turns into some mess. He was a “classy midfielder/forward flanker”?? That’s the part that makes my blood boil. I swear this stuff happens everywhere, like they just sweep it under the rug until someone digs it back up.