WHAT WAS CLAIMED
A transgender athlete mocked Sydney Swans star Isaac Heeney on a TV program.
OUR VERDICT
False. The altercation has been made up.
AAP FACTCHECK - Transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey has not publicly ridiculed Sydney Swans star Isaac Heeney on television.
This claim is just one of numerous falsehoods published by a Facebook page called Red Zone Footy.
The supposed AFL club fan page is operated by users in Vietnam, according to Facebook's transparency details, and is pushing out disinformation on a daily basis.
It is one of several pages AAP FactCheck has identified that target supporters of various AFL and NRL clubs with fabricated stories and AI-generated images.
The pages' posts urge readers to click on a link to an ad-laden website where there are further false claims.
One post claims transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey appeared on an unspecified TV show and publicly criticised Heeney.
It is alleged that Heeney was then defended by his wife, which the post incorrectly names as Swans chairman Andrew Pridham. Heeney is engaged to Steffanie Waters.
The claim is false. Mouncey has made no mention of Heeney on any TV show.
The page features several other posts with disinformation about Heeney, many featuring the hallmarks of AI-generation.
One post alleges that he met with a young boy on the field after a game, after he couldn't afford a match ticket.
The accompanying article claims there has been extensive media coverage of the gesture. However, AAP FactCheck could find no such coverage.
The image supposedly showing Heeney with the boy features several AI hallucinations.
Firstly, the guernsey features the wrong logo for the AFL and sponsor QBE.
The white detail on the Swans' shirt, which represents the Sydney Opera House's iconic roof, features straight lines instead of the genuine curved design.
The post also refers to Heeney as an "NFL superstar".
Another post claims Heeney helped an elderly janitor on the sidelines of a match at the SCG.
However, the image supposedly showing the player assisting the man features the Google Gemini logo in the bottom right corner, indicating it was generated using the company's AI.
Another post claims that the club "shocked the entire sporting world" by calling for assistance for the family of Kumanjayi Little Baby, a girl who went missing and was later found dead near Alice Springs in April.
This is false. The image used can be traced to a 2024 press conference where former coach John Longmire announced his resignation.
The image has been digitally reversed and there was no mention of Kumanjayi Little Baby during the press conference.
While the club wore black armbands in honour of Kumanjayi Little Baby in May, there's no evidence of the quote attributed to a team representative in the post.
A further post claims Swans player Charlie Curnow is suffering from an undisclosed medical condition.
While Curnow was rested with an "abdominal issue" in May, he only missed one match and there's no evidence the 29-year-old has been diagnosed with a serious health condition.
The image used of Curnow, supposedly in hospital, appears to be AI-generated. Notably, he has an impossibly long hand.
The page has also made several claims that opposition players and coaches are accusing the AFL of being biased in the Swans' favour.
Almost the exact same quote has been attributed to Western Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli, GWS Giants player Toby Greene and coach Adam Kingsley as well as Gold Coast Suns coach Damien Hardwick.
"If they want the Sydney Swans to win at all costs, then just hand them the trophy now and stop making us play these meaningless matches," all four are claimed to have said with minor variations.
The quotes are made up. There is no reporting of any such comments from the named individuals.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked a similar quote being attributed to other AFL coaches.
Additionally, the claimed quotes appear associated with various other sporting coaches and players on similar-looking disinformation Facebook pages.
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