‘He’s alive’, AFL apologizes for Michael Porter In Memoriam blunder at Australian Football Hall of Fame

The AFL has apologized for prematurely mourning the death of a former Hall of Fame player this week.

The AFL inducted Dane Swan into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday night and elevated Hawthorn’s Jason Dunstall to legendary status in a glittering ceremony in Melbourne.

The event is one of the most prestigious on the AFL calendar, but unfortunately a major mistake was made during the ‘In Memoriam’ segment in recognizing figures from the game who died last year.

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Speaking on Channel 7 The front bar On Thursday night, Hawthorn great John Kennedy Jr couldn’t believe former Hawks player Michael Porter was appearing on screen.

Porter played 78 games for Hawthorn and was a member of their VFL premiership team in 1971. The 79-year-old is alive and well.

Host Sam Pang said: “This 71 team, obviously a famous and important team in Hawthorn’s history, but I believe John, you have a cheerio that you would like to give to one of the players.”

Kennedy replied: “I would like to send one to Michael Porter who played in the 71st Grand Final. They were called “portholes”.

“He was noted as deceased last night at the AFL Hall of Fame, as one of the people who died.

“The problem is, he’s alive. So Portholes, if you’re listening mate or if you’re up there in NSW, let us know when the vigil is because we’ll all be there mate! »

A league spokesperson said: “Once this innocent mistake was realized, we quickly phoned and apologized to everyone involved, including Michael, and thank him for his understanding. »

On Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle show, journalist Glenn McFarlane revealed he spoke to Porter on Thursday, saying he “took it in real spirit”.

“I got all these phone calls on Tuesday night, the first one was from a friend I played with at Hawthorn called John Fisher. When I answered he just said ‘thank God’,” I “I said ‘why’ and he told me the AFL Hall of Fame fame had killed me,” Porter told the Herald Sun.

“Then Ian Bremner called to say ‘Parko’ (David Parkin) and John Kennedy Jnr had contacted him. It spread like wildfire.

“I just turned 79 and I feel in pretty good health. Maybe there was an upside to that because I played like crap on the golf course, but today (with a handicap of 14) I had 43 points. I think St. Peter played with me today.

“It didn’t really worry me, although I did wonder how it could actually happen, because first someone has to say that you’re actually dead. Was there another Mike Porter who died? I don’t know the answer, but look at it this way, it got me mentioned at the AFL Hall of Fame night (laughs).