Sydney Swans star Tom Papley branded Essendon’s physical style of play “a facade” and even accused the club of “hitting us behind the play” amid a fiery and brutal contest between the two.
The Bombers’ Peter Wright lit the fuse in the first quarter when he left Sydney’s Harry Cunningham concussed and needing to be stretchered off after a sickening collision as players from both sides engaged in a heated scuffle.
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Swans players and fans were also incensed when Essendon ruckman Sam Draper delivered a late hit on Sydney’s Jake Lloyd as tensions in the first half simmered.
As players exited the field at half time with the Swans leading 8.9 (57) to the Dons’ 8.5 (53), Papley let rip in an interview with Channel 7.
“We fought our way back,” Papley said.
“They were pretty good early, their pressure is good. They’re getting after us a bit, but we’ll keep going hard at the ball.
“They’re trying to get after us, it’s all off the ball. We’re just worried about the ball, we’ll keep being hard in the contest and get the job done.”
The Swans turned it on in the second half, effectively winning the contest in the third quarter in which they piled on 34 points to the Dons’ 15 to eventually run out 19.17 (131) – 15.11 (101) victors at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
However, Papley’s frustrations remained and came out swinging in a post-game interview with 3AW and insisted Wright is “going to have a nice holiday” amid the Bombers star’s pending tribunal case.
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“You can be tough and do all that stuff, but you’ve still got to be able to play four quarters,” Papley said.
“They were hitting us behind the play and things like that. They’re trying to do that stuff and I don’t know if it’s them or not.
“(Peter Wright is) going to have a nice holiday.
“Brad Scott came out and said it’s the Essendon way, but … anyway I won’t go into it.
“You can pretend to be tough, but you’ve still got to win the ball and win the game.
“It’s all a facade I think, but anyway.”
Papley’s Swans teammate Isaac Heeney was less blunt in a postmatch interview with Fox Footy, but felt Essendon’s physicality was “a bit unfair at times” and was rather delighted to have “ran over the top” of the visitors.
“There was a bit of feisty action early,” Heeney said.
“We knew they were going to bring it – they mentioned midweek about their ‘Essendon way’, so we knew it was going to be tough and we had to match it and embrace it (but) not go over the top and do what they did, which was a bit unfair at times.
“There’s not much love there at the moment. We ran over the top of them, which was nice, and we’ve had a good pre-season and a good start to the season.
“The boys are flying, which is nice.”
The Swans’ victory maintained their perfect start to the 2024 season from the opening three games, while Essendon suffered its first loss of the campaign.
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