Port Adelaide has reportedly threatened legal action over a beer mocking young gun Jason Horne-Francis’ exit from North Melbourne.
ESPN reported the club was left unhappy after a Queensland-based brewery offered to send the club a case of #Icebath Beer, which points to the 2022 incident when Horne-Francis was said to refuse an ice bath – and was then dropped.
The beer packaging shows a caricature of Horne-Francis, sitting in a North Melbourne-coloured ice bath and holding a can. Power champion Kane Cornes has consistently used the hashtag #icebath on Twitter while discussing the young star.
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While the beer was originally listed for sale it has since been withdrawn after a tense back-and-forth with the football club.
“The idea behind the beer was for it to be a bit of an ice-breaker for the hot topic which is running amok at the moment in the AFL and on social media,” a spokesperson for Whitelabel Brewing told ESPN.
“It’s a bit of a tongue-in-cheek look at not being professional, because that was the last straw for North.
“I wasn’t doing this as a way to get back at him. I’m not doing this out of spite, probably the opposite if anything. It was done to try and diffuse the situation between the two supporter groups and the media, and to try and take a bit of the air out of the topic, because I think it has gone a bit too far.”
But an email, reportedly from Power CEO Matthew Richardson, told the brewery: “This is not lighthearted fun as you put it. The AFL and AFLPA have been informed.
“You should remove any use of Jason’s image immediately and any reference to him. And no, we are not interested in your offer in any way. Please remove this product ASAP. Legal action is pending.”
In a statement the brewery said: “Unfortunately, Whitelabel Brewing’s planned release of #Icebath Lager has ruffled feathers at Port, with the club threatening legal action against the beer company unless the product was removed.
“The company apologises to Jason Horne-Francis and Port Adelaide if our idea to poke fun at a bizarre situation caused any harm.”
Horne-Francis’ Power face the Kangaroos this weekend in Hobart.
