Leigh Ryswyk played one AFL match. That was enough to make history.

The former Brisbane Lion has become the first past or present AFL player to come out as gay, announcing the news Wednesday on Melbourne LGBTQIA+ station Joy 94.9’s GayFL program.

“To people who know me, my closest friends, this is not new,” Ryswyk said. “I’ve been out for five years now.”

Ryswyk was drafted as a rookie from Southport for the 2005 season, played one game — a 39-point win over Fremantle in Perth — then was delisted at season’s end. He went on to play 226 games for North Adelaide in the SANFL and was inducted into the AFL Queensland Football Hall of Fame.

Ryswyk follows former West Coast defender Mitch Brown, who revealed last year that he is bisexual, making Brown the first male AFL player to publicly identify as queer.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said the league hopes Ryswyk’s story helps others feel “backed and supported for who they are.” Pride Cup CEO Hayley Conway noted the broader significance: “If it didn’t matter, men wouldn’t still be in the closet.”

Ryswyk described his parents’ reactions as something that “blew him away” — his father told him: “I love you, it doesn’t matter, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy for you.”

The milestone arrives with an asterisk: Ryswyk has been retired for years. No current AFL player has come out. But visibility, even from the past, shifts what feels possible for those still on the field.

Sources