St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has warned rival fans they are booing Jason Horne-Francis at their peril after the Port Adelaide young gun overcame more jeers to power his side to victory.
Teammates and coaches are in awe of Horne-Francis’s temperament on a night where he was the most influential player on the field with a game-high 11 clearances and 18 contested possessions in Port’s seven-point win.
Jason Horne-Francis was booed on Friday night.Credit: Getty Images
Two weeks after being booed against the Western Bulldogs in Gather Round, Horne-Francis copped another heated reception from rival fans, this time Saints supporters despite having little interaction with their club in the past.
Referencing US comedian David Chappelle, Lyon went into bat for the former No.1 draft pick, urging supporters to lift their act.
“There’s a couple of things, people were doing as a mob they wouldn’t do as individuals, so maybe just check yourself and don’t do that,” Lyon said.
“There’s a lot of mental stress on players. If you’re doing it to put him off his game, which I make an assumption you are, it clearly doesn’t work which is good for the kid.
“So maybe don’t boo him. I watched Dave Chappelle last night. He spoke about people punching down on people. Let’s not punch down on a 19-year-old.”
Port forward Sam Powell-Pepper was bemused Saints fans were booing Horne-Francis, who had 15 possessions when North Melbourne played them last year.
“It’s St Kilda – what has he done to them? It sucks,” Powell-Pepper said.
“He’s out there having a crack. He’s playing good footy. You don’t want to hear booing when he hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s a tough-headed bloke. He puts his head down and gets on with the job.”
Port coach Ken Hinkley, who blasted rival supporters for their booing of Horne-Francis a fortnight ago, praised his player for handling the heat from the crowd.
Both coaches are seeking clarification from the umpires department. Lyon wants an explanation over when players are adjudged to have played on after a ruling against Josh Battle cost the Saints a vital goal. Battle was called to play on after making only a marginal move off his line, and tackled by Charlie Dixon.
Lyon said he had spoken to umpires boss Dan Richardson during the week about that rule.
“It’s really interesting that half-a-step play on, not that I’m blueing, I think we just need some clarity because it feels like it’s been really tightened up,” Lyon said.
“You’re supposed to go line of goals from wherever you are on the ground, so I’d like that clarified because that hurt us.”
Hinkley, whose men were on the wrong end of a 14-28 free kick count, was careful not to be seen to be criticising the umpires but wants to know what his players are doing wrong, particularly around the holding the man rule. They have a differential of -52 in seven games.
“I’m not an umpire bagger or whinger,” Hinkley said. “It’d be nice to get some clarity from the umpires back to us if we’re that poor at some of the things we’re doing.
“I just love to get that direction coming back our way because I don’t want to go searching for it. In a two-way conversation, I think it’d be nice to feel why we’ve given away 20-plus more free kicks for holding the man in this competition six rounds in.
“That’s a big number – a big, big number that gives up 300 to 400 metres in a game of football. We are aware of it, we work at it, but we seem to be keeping on doing it, so we must have something wrong with the umpiring of the game.”
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