Former AFL star Nicky Winmar has been sentenced to six months in jail for assaulting a woman in northern Victoria, with the 60-year-old immediately appealing both the conviction and the sentence.
Magistrate Trieu Huynh handed down the sentence on Friday in Bendigo Magistrates Court, describing the offending as "violent and unprovoked." Winmar was also ordered to complete a 12-month community corrections order upon his release.
The court heard that in May 2025, Winmar assaulted a woman at Cohuna, north of Bendigo. The victim, who cannot be identified, told the court Winmar unexpectedly became angry before grabbing and twisting her arm, dragging her by the hair, pushing her against a wall and spitting in her face, before repeatedly bashing her head against a wooden door.
In a victim impact statement read earlier this month, the woman said the attack had left her a "shadow of the person" she was. Magistrate Huynh said the victim reported feeling broken and could not understand how someone "could be so brutal."
Winmar's barrister, Dermot Dann KC, had argued for a community corrections order only, saying his client had already been punished for the offending through the loss of football honours. Magistrate Huynh accepted Winmar had been affected by the removal of various accolades but said he placed "limited weight" on it in sentencing.
Winmar was found guilty last month of three counts of assault. He had argued the woman was lying.
Following the sentencing, Winmar's lawyers immediately lodged an appeal, and he was released on bail on the condition he not contact any prosecution witnesses.
The case has drawn attention to Winmar's history of "alcohol-fuelled violent offending," as Magistrate Huynh noted. In 2019, Winmar was sentenced to a community corrections order, including 100 hours of community service, for the drunken assault of a taxi driver.
The former St Kilda and Western Bulldogs player has also faced consequences from the AFL community. He was removed from the Australian Football Hall of Fame and his bronze statue, which commemorated his response to racist abuse, was removed from outside Perth Stadium in his home state.
Winmar, who kicked 317 goals across 251 games, was named in the All-Australian team in 1991 and 1995 and was the first Indigenous footballer to play 200 VFL/AFL games. Investigations were underway to determine if he had an acquired brain injury or chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) from concussions.
The appeal process is expected to continue, with Winmar expected to apply for bail pending the outcome.