Eddie McGuire has launched an impassioned plea for the AFL to punish players for taunting following the “disgraceful” treatment of Magpies star Nick Daicos, with the former Collingwood president labelling it “pure bullying”.
Tensions boiled over between players at the start of Sunday’s match between Sydney and Collingwood, with several Swans players bumping and niggling Daicos – both before the first bounce then after direct opponent Ryan Clarke kicked Sydney’s first goal.
The latter incident sparked several scuffles around the ground as Tom Papley, Clarke, Hayden McLean and Chad Warner all rushed to, with Warner even rubbing the Magpies player’s head. The Pies then ‘flew the flag’, with Daicos’ brother Josh and teammate Brayden Maynard wrestling Papley to the ground, while Magpie Oleg Markov and Swan Marc Sheather tangled too.
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Papley went again at Daicos and bumped him in the back, leading to the umpire paying a free kick against the Swans for prohibited contact.
Daicos minutes later set up a goal for Will Hoskin-Elliott, sparking more scuffles as Magpies players went to Clarke.
Asked on Channel 9’s Footy Classified whether the AFL needed to introduce a “taunting rule”, McGuire said: “Yes we do … This sort of stuff, we‘ve got to get this out of the game.
“This was disgraceful on the weekend, we’re sick of it, you can‘t come back at people.
“And in fact, you wouldn‘t believe it, Josh Daicos got a $1,000 fine for protecting his brother from being attacked by five Swans.
“Collingwood players shouldn‘t have been fined. There should be a 50m penalty and a free kick.
“There’s no sportsmanship, it‘s pure bullying, it’s a waste of time.”
McGuire said the AFL should take a leaf out of the NFL’s book and punish players for taunting, which the NFL describes as “any flagrant acts or remarks that deride, mock, bait, or embarrass an opponent”.
According to an NFL statement around rule changes and points of clarification ahead of the 2022 season, the league said: “Two taunting penalties committed by an individual player in the same game will result in an automatic disqualification. In addition, the taunting player may be subject to additional discipline depending on the severity of the action.”
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McGuire said there was “no mucking around” with this issue in the NFL – and the AFL should take a similar stance.
“Why don‘t we bring it in and clean the game up so that we don’t get cowards and duds and all the other idiots running up and getting in the faces of players after they’ve missed a goal, trying to humiliate them?” McGuire asked.
“Play the game like men – out.”
Sydney star Errol Gulden told foxfooty.com.au it was “100 per cent” a directive from the Swans’ coaching staff to try and put Daicos off his game during Sunday’s fiery clash.
“He’s one of the best players in the competition. If we let him do his own thing, he’ll win them the game, he’s that good,” Gulden told foxfooty.com.au.
“It was definitely a focus for us going into the game that it was a full team effort to stop him, and I felt that was something we were somewhat able to reduce his impact on the game.
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“He’s an amazing player and it takes a full team to stop him.”
Collingwood coach Craig McRae said he was thrilled with Daicos’ response to another hard tag and extra attention and was pleased at his side’s ability to fly the flag for their teammate without giving away any free kicks.
“Someone comes at us, we want to come back at them, but within the rules,” McRae said.
“Last week was the same … There‘s flying the flag if you like using that language, but there’s not stepping over the rules of the game.
“We don‘t want to be undisciplined, but we stand up for each other.”
