The simmering feud between Brisbane and Melbourne players has been reignited after an ugly act by Lion Noah Answerth towards Demon Harry Petty.
The two now-perennial contenders have continued to play out dramatic games but Answerth’s act on Thursday night will see the personal issues between the sides return to the fore.
After Petty missed a shot on goal in the fourth quarter, which was his first disposal of the game, Answerth pretended to cry, rubbing his eyes to mock Petty.
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Petty was left in tears in late 2022 after a sledge by then-Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko against the tall, believed to be about Petty’s mother.
“Is this Answerth, with the history that’s gone on between these guys … crybaby?” commentator Brian Taylor asked.
“Players don’t forget, do they?”
Hawthorn great Jason Dunstall said on Fox Footy: “I have no idea why you would go down that path.”
Dual North Melbourne premiership player David King suggested the players as a broader group would “need to take control” to stop such incidents.
Zorko apologised at the time saying he was “remorseful” but that the incident “wasn’t unprovoked” as the teams traded barbs throughout the match, including some ugly comments aimed at Zorko.
“You’ve got to understand, everyone, that he was responding to some verbal jibes from the Melbourne Football Club,” the Herald Sun’s Mark Robinson explained at the time on Fox Footy’s AFL 360.
“Now I’m not going to repeat them here either … about his personal life, about his family. About his wife.”
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On Thursday night Zorko was told of Answerth’s behaviour and was not a fan.
“I’ll probably go have a word with him. That’s not the way we want to win,” the Lions veteran said on ABC radio.
“Heat of the moment, stuff happens. I’m sure he’d have fixed it up after the game.”
This is the second time the Lions have mocked Petty over his tears.
During the sides’ 2022 semi-final, Lions forward Lincoln McCarthy similarly pretended to cry while he and Petty were battling it out.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said he wasn’t aware of the altercation and wouldn’t offer his opinion.
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“I didn’t see it, what happened? Probably ask Fages (Chris Fagan) when he comes in, that’s up to them,” Goodwin said.
Lions coach Chris Fagan also claimed he had not seen the incident and did not comment further.
Fagan said it was one of the side’s best performances he could remember as he heaped praise on their ferocious tackling pressure in co-captain Lachie Neale’s milestone game.
“I feel like that’s one of the best games we’ve played in a long time,” he said.
“That was a pretty special sort of effort I think, particularly in Lachie Neale’s 250th.”
— with NCA NewsWire
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