Sam Edmund | AFL's response to taunting (24.03.26)

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for a month. Sam Edmunds here for Alex Scott and staff to sell your livestock or sell your home.

Hello to you, Sammy. See, the awful fixtures got it for all the debate and criticism.

It's got a funny way of speeding out the right match at the right time. In the middle of the

biowextured, a standalone Saturday night slot involving Essendon and North Melbourne under

pressure for different reasons, but the same reasons at the same time is massive. I mean,

the fallout for the loser here, particularly if it is a heavy loss.

Well, it'll be seismic, why not? So, where your weight, Saturday night? The big club tax

are reckonin' it is. Or the big clubs have it for good and bad. There's no in-between. They're

either winning the Premiership or they're sacking the coach and overthrowing the board. That's Essendon,

that's Carlton, that's Collinwood, that's Richmond. It's maybe Hawthorne to some degree,

but they all suffer the same fate when things go wrong. This is the bit that fascinates me is

for what you've said, which is right. It's Essendon themselves who have escalated this.

So, it's Brad Scott's press conference that escalates. We could have all jumped to wherever we

wanted to jump to, and that would have been the external narrative, but this is an internal

narrative. When he used the word demoralised, my first reaction was, oh, that's what we would

have said on that. You don't want to, two rounds in, you want to be a small target.

Two rounds in, they put the sirens wailing, not anyone on the outside.

Anyone else out there? How do you live in that environment? How long does that last? Things

become combustible if it's internal. The external, I don't think any longer plays a role in destabilising

the way that it used to. I think boards used to be very reactionary to what happened on the outside,

but I think we've learnt through St Kielder and Essendon the last time around. They make their own

destabilising moves without any help from the outside, and they have whatever this chain

reaction ends up being, they started it. Yep, yep. I find it hard to believe, though, that a man

has been around as long and as inexperienced as Brad Scott would use that word by accident,

and then therefore regret it in the aftermath. It was in his mind. He used it three times.

The only way that happens is if it's, that's the core truth of what he was watching.

Does he go into the press comment saying, I'm going to say this, and I know the effect it will

have because of A, B and C, or does he stumble across it and now think, oh, maybe I've revealed too

much. I think it was what he felt in his soul and whether he meant to or not. And it was the honest

he said it three times because that's exactly what he diagnosed. And when you, it's the precise

right word, that's exactly what it looked like. So small target, big target. It's like the

original reality TV show survivor. You didn't, you didn't want to declare your hand too early in

the game, did you? You wanted to keep a low profile and just go through the early rounds and let

the others fall on their sword. Well, this is, you've formed the wrong alliance too early in your

in trouble. What about Greg's one just sweeping in and going, no, not having this bad look for the

game. This is one of style. If, if you're under any illusion, if you see something you don't like,

you change it and you just stop it. Gut punches and the rule changes broadly in his first year

evidence of that. And this is further validation of, of his approach that you're rough all the

bonds. It's going to be a free kick for high contact. Now, clearly Patrick Voss in this moment is,

is taunting, um, Harrison Petty over his lack of feathers, Jared. I mean, it's just as simple as

that. Does he go too far? Yes. Does he look like a fool? Yes. I mean, broadly speaking, I actually

like what Patrick Voss brings to Freeman because precisely what they don't have. But he overstepped

on this occasion. And the NFL said, we won't be bringing in a taunting rule per se because then

that's more gray. Where do we draw the line? Did he taunt him? Did he not? Simple thing. Like

I'm what? Touch the head for a kick against having said that. I wouldn't have done anything in

that situation because it was an end of quarter for a kick. So, so which is why he gave the three

examples were Vosses. Nothing could have happened there. Warner ruffling weadering and Jacob weadering

is going to join me actually in the next hour. So I'll ask him about that. That sparked a melee

and sitting in Warhol on Darcy, which ends up being a further 50 meter penalty against Darcy.

No, that's going to be reversed now. Yep. If you do that. No, double 50. So yeah, so it wouldn't

have helped in the Voss one. But the the idea here is that it just says to the players, stop.

Just stop. Yeah. It's ridiculous. It's a bad look. It's inflammatory and it's in sights,

malaise and it's awful example for junior footy. And the game will be better for its removal.

Yeah. I'd agree with that. I'd agree with that as much as those that might be listening to this,

might jump up and down and we've become a nanny state, which I saw come through on the text last

night on sports day. I think by and large, the players will get around it really quickly and

will all follow suit. The other part of the weekend just gone was that the bottle throwing,

which is a clear, which is a clear line that cannot be crossed. That states the bleeding obvious.

In Victoria Police, the AFL and the MCC have all come down hard on the on the fan, the member,

the supporter in question. There's some suggestion. Maybe that Nick Watson could have

goaded or tormented the cheer squad a little bit less. But I like the interaction between players

and fans and this was a clear line crossed and we don't condone that. But I think we'd be

you'd be loath to strip all color out of the game and suggest Nick Watson maybe don't

taunt the crowd. I like the interaction as long as we don't lose our heads like we did at the weekend.

Would you agree with that broadly? Or do you think the Wizard went a little bit too far?

I think there would be a quiet conversation in the background going, don't incite the crowd

like that. It's unique because as the end of the game, final siren, no urgency to get back anywhere

and what it does is provoke a clounder throw a bottle. There's probably a gentle conversation

in there, not a major conversation, just a gentle conversation. Reminder perhaps.

Just be a little, if we, this is cause and effect and we don't want the effect.

So pointless banning here, Ruffling, let's see who the tosses are. We sort of fit in with yesterday's,

let's have a lame ass of the year and Patrick Voss is the clubhouse leader.

Yeah, he is, he is. And he has spoken to his teammates and the club and just a long meal set,

he would flag it with him in the aftermath as well. So I think they know that

he himself hasn't come out of it looking good. Now it's been made official, of course. I just

think free man, you know, they've been a bit, bit beige, bit plant, bit bland, bit vanilla. I think

he, as long as he doesn't overstep the line, he gives them everything they don't have. So I hope he

I hope he holds true to that to some degree. Like the last bloke, we are an all-essend

and family. My boys are 12 and 14 and I've lost total interest in footy. They don't even

bother watching anymore and I can't blame them. Who would follow a team like that's the

despondency that's being felt. Yeah. And thanks to all the EPL followers sending through,

it's yellow cards for players if they incite an opposition crowd and an away end. But we know the

issues that sport that league and that code has had with fan violence over over time. So they are

red hot on that. But look, it happens in world sport and they're punished as a result.

Sammy, thank you. Thanks to Sam Edmonds, whether it's selling your livestock or selling your home

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