EX AFL footballer’s shuttered pub still owes workers and traders
A Geelong pub once co-owned by AFL great Corey Enright remains under fire, with staff and local businesses still waiting to be paid months after the venue was evicted and shut down over unpaid rent.
The Geelong Hotel, operated by Geelong on Yarra – a company linked to former Geelong star Corey Enright and his business partners Mathew Dyer, Dean Trembath, and Max McKay – was forced out of its Moorabool Street premises in April amid claims of unpaid bills and property damage. The group also runs The Inn Hotel just 600 metres away, through a separate company, MD Hotel Group.
Former employee John Vantarakis alleges he’s still owed for nearly 80 hours of work, along with at least nine other colleagues who have not received wages or superannuation entitlements.
“He said it was in the contract to not go to the media … but it turns out they can’t really do anything,” Vantarakis told The Herald Sun, referring to a message from one of the owners.
“The owners would say to us a lot things like ‘one more week’ or ‘just after this event’ that they would be able to pay us.”
“They had the audacity to say that when they had gone into administration.”
MD Hotel Group, which had under A$2,000 in the bank when ordered into liquidation, reportedly loaned more than A$1 million to Geelong Hotel — a figure administrators now say is unrecoverable.
The group’s debts exceed A$5.6 million, including A$3.5 million owed to secured creditor Judo Bank, A$350,000 to the Australian Taxation Office, and A$145,000 to staff.
Despite this, The Inn Hotel avoided liquidation after creditors backed a Deed of Company Arrangement last week, clearing a path to repay workers.
A spokesperson said settling outstanding Geelong Hotel wages would be addressed once MD Hotel Group’s voluntary administration process concludes.
Jonathan Jackson, 8th July 2025
