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Collingwood have apologised to Sydney and Lance Franklin following the controversial booing of the Swans champion by Magpies supporters at the MCG on Sunday.
Franklin was jeered with every one of his 13 disposals during the Swans’ 29-point loss at the MCG, which has quickly sparked controversy.
In a statement attributed to Pies captain Darcy Moore, coach Craig McRae and CEO Craig Kelly, the club issued a formal apology, urging fans to give Franklin and other greats of the game the respect they deserve.
“We apologise to the Sydney Swans and to Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin,” the statement reads.
“The club does not support booing, particularly champions of the game.
“Yesterday was the first time we played the Swans at the MCG in a decade – it provided an opportunity to respect a champion of the game and we fell short.
“Buddy is a great of Australian Football – what he has achieved on the field over a long period of time demands a high level of respect.
“To our Members and supporters, we are on an exciting journey at Collingwood and we do not take for granted the unwavering support you provide us with at every game – home or away. Our fans turn up like no other – you’re our 19th player – you’re loud, you’re passionate, you’re emotional.
“We hope the next time we get the chance to witness a champion of the game we treat them with respect, the same respect we ask for when it comes to our players and our champions.
“When our club has the opportunity, we stand Side by Side with the greats of our game.”
The apology comes after Magpies great Nathan Buckley issued a strong criticism of the booing.
Speaking on SEN, Buckley, who captained and coached the Magpies, described it as ‘at best… a begrudging acknowledgment of the sustained brilliance Franklin has brought against Collingwood, and at worst… ignorance and bigotry’.
“Your team is the toast of the town and they‘re handling themselves on and off the field with class and poise, so let’s try and fall in the line on the other side of the fence,” Buckley said.
“We were gifted an opportunity to celebrate this undisputed champion and a section of the faithful chose to denigrate. I don’t think that we took the opportunity to do the right thing and take the higher ground.
Buckley urged Magpies fans to behave differently should Franklin ever play the club again at the MCG. Given it is expected to be the 346-game superstar’s final season, that may only happen should the two teams lock horns in a final.
“If we get another chance, I hope Collingwood fans that aren’t ignorant and aren’t bigots – because there will be some booing – stand up and applaud every time he gets a touch and try and drown that out, because that’s exactly what the stars of the game deserve,” Buckley said.
Speaking post-match, Swans coach John Longmire said he was perplexed by the booing of Franklin.
“I don’t know why they would – why were they booing him?” he said.
“You’d probably celebrate a 36-year-old, wouldn’t you, who’s been a champion of the game?
“It’s been 10 years since we’ve played Collingwood here… it doesn’t make sense.”
Lance Franklin of the Swans. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)
Sydney’s plan to ruthlessly tag Collingwood star Nick Daicos has been questioned, after the tactic failed to stop the Magpies recording their seventh win of the season.
Daicos managed 25 disposals but was curtailed by Swans stopper Ryan Clarke, only for the Pies to find a way to make up for the reduced impact of the Brownlow Medal favourite.
Speaking on Fox Footy’s First Crack, AFL analyst David King said the Swans’ plan ‘blew up’, pointing to vision of the Magpies using the Daicos tag to their advantage by bringing the 20-year old up to stoppages as an extra midfielder, creating an extra man behind the ball when Clarke inevitably followed.
“This is the Daicos conundrum for all coaches – do you tag him, how far do you go, and what do you give up in terms of how you want to play versus holding true?” he said.
“I think it’s gone too far – I reckon it’s lost balance and become all consuming.
“It’s almost at the stage where all clubs just say, ‘we just have to play’… you may defeat one, but you don’t defeat the 22.”
Fellow panellist Leigh Montagna also queried whether the Swans’ aggressive intent towards Daicos ‘galvanised’ the Pies behind him.
“Sometimes, while the team that thinks they’re targeting Nick Daicos [and] are going to get an advantage from it, sometimes it actually helps a team like Collingwood, because it galvanises them,” he said.
“They say ‘right, we’re getting around our little superstar, we’re going to protect him, we’re going to support’. And it makes the rest of the Collingwood team also walk a bit taller.
“It [tagging] can sometimes have the opposite effect.”
Speaking after the game, Daicos admitted he and the Pies ‘love it’ when he cops close attention, saying the Pies back themselves to ‘manipulate’ tags to their advantage.
“We love it when I get a tag!” he said.
“We think we can manipulate the opposition, get ‘one v none’, so it’s a good thing for us.
“I’ve always got my teammates’ support, which I love.”
However, not all Daicos’ teammates were so accepting of the Swans’ tactics, with brother Josh slamming the ‘dirty’ nature of some incidents.
“It’s never nice seeing off-the-play, a lot of dirty hits going on,” he told the Herald Sun.
“Obviously there’s going to be a lot of physicality and you have got to respect that.
“I completely understand what they are doing… but at times it was 80 metres off the ball.
“There’s elbows into the ribs – it’s not on. But like we always do, we stick up for him and we give it back to them.”
Melbourne young gun Jacob van Rooyen will front the AFL tribunal to challenge his two-match striking ban, while Carlton’s Nic Newman and Geelong’s Brad Close will attempt to have one-match suspensions overturned.
Van Rooyen received a two-match suspension for striking after his attempted spoil in a marking contest led to Gold Coast’s Charlie Ballard being taken off on a stretcher.
The 20-year-old’s action was considered careless conduct, high contact and high impact by AFL match review officer Michael Christian.
The grading resulted in a two-match ban that cannot be reduced with an early guilty plea.
Ballard was hurt but not concussed in the final-quarter incident at Heritage Bank Stadium on Saturday night.
“The club has reached out to the Gold Coast Suns, and pleasingly Ballard has recovered well and is expected to play this week,” Melbourne said in a statement.
Van Rooyen – a first-round draft pick last year – has kicked 11 goals in six senior matches since debuting in round three.
Newman was suspended for making contact to Lachie Neale’s chin with his elbow during the Blues’ 26-point loss to Brisbane at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
The 2020 Brownlow medallist was given a free kick for the incident during the third quarter, with Brisbane players remonstrating with Newman.
A Lions player was overheard on the broadcast describing the hit as a “dog shot”.
The match review officer charged in-form small defender Newman with striking, graded as intentional, low impact and high contact.
“Newy’s been massive for us this season – not just defensively but what he provides with the ball in his hand as well,” teammate Adam Cerra said on Monday.
“We don’t take it for granted … we’ve got options if he is to miss but he will be missed.”
Close was cited for a dangerous tackle on Adelaide’s Jordan Dawson.
Hawthorn’s Tyler Brockman could yet challenge his own one-match ban for a dangerous tackle on Fremantle’s Brandon Walker.
Both incidents were assessed as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
Port Adelaide forward Junior Rioli faces a nervous wait for Sunday’s match review findings after his high contact with Jordan Ridley behind play led to the Essendon defender being substituted out of Sunday’s Adelaide Oval contest with concussion.
(AAP)
VFLW club Port Melbourne have hit back at ‘degrading and sexist comments’ on a social media post following a low-scoring match.
In difficult conditions on Saturday night, neither the Borough nor North Melbourne could muster a goal, with a post showing the team’s 0.4 (4) to 0.6 (6) defeat being trolled.
A follow-up post on the club’s Twitter page thanked supporters for ‘braving the elements’, while slamming the worst of the comments.
“Thank you to everyone that braved the elements and came out to support our VFLW side on Saturday night,” the statement reads.
“There may not have been any goals scored but degrading and sexist comments about the score line doesn’t kick goals either.”
The defeat was the Borough’s second of the season, with the club sitting second on the ladder with a 5-2 record.
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