The Supreme Court of Victoria heard an application on Monday to shift the defamation case against Luke Sayers to a federal court, as his ex-wife, Cate Sayers, watched on and wiped tears from her eyes during parts of the hearing. Luke Sayers did not appear in court.

Matt Collins, KC, said the case would turn on who the court believes. He told the court that findings of fact would turn on credit and that there was bound to be cross-examination of both witnesses and submissions on which one should be believed. He said the subject matter was the Australian Football League, calling it a matter of obvious interest across Australia.

The dispute stems from the fallout of Luke Sayers’s lewd photo scandal in January 2025, when a photograph of his penis was posted on his X account for 13 minutes and a female manager at a Carlton sponsor was tagged in the post. Sayers has said he did not operate the account and took the image down when he learned of it. He was later subjected to an investigation by the AFL integrity unit and provided a statutory declaration explaining how the post occurred.

Cate Sayers alleges that the statutory declaration was confidential and was sent to people involved in or associated with the AFL in Victoria, NSW and Queensland. She says that publication caused serious harm to her reputation across Australia, breached confidence and invaded her privacy. Collins said there was a denial of any wider publication beyond the recipients Sayers admits were sent the document: AFL general counsel Stephen Meade and barrister Christopher Townshend, KC.

That narrow admission sits at the centre of the case. Collins said Sayers maintains he forwarded the declaration only to protect his lawful interest after what he says was an attack on him, and that he had a legal, professional and moral duty to answer the AFL’s query. He also said Sayers denies publishing or causing the publication of the X post itself and denies any more widespread publication of the declaration.

The hearing now puts the court on a path to decide whether the dispute belongs in Victoria or moves to a federal forum, but the larger fight is already clear. The credibility contest over what was sent, to whom and why will shape not just the forum but the outcome of the defamation claim itself.