Fremantle forward charged by AFL MRO for Harrison Petty sledge
Updated ,first published
Your daily football news package in today’s AFL Briefing:
- Essendon had a terrible start to the season; left behind with a percentage of 55% with two heavy defeats
- Fremantle forward Patrick Voss He will pay the price for mocking Melbourne’s Harrison Petty after the AFL accused him of abuse of power
Dons coach Scott worried about ‘selfishness’
Steve Barrett
Adelaide: Essendon coach Brad Scott said he noticed an increase in selfishness against Port Adelaide as the bottom-flight Bombers suffered two heavy defeats to start the season.
Following a poor defeat to Hawthorn to start the 2026 season, the Bombers were beaten by Port Adelaide in a one-sided game with the margin stretched to as high as 80 points in the final quarter.
The fourth-year Essendon coach described his playing group as “demoralised”.
“We want to build a club and culture based on the team first,” Scott said after the 63-point defeat at Adelaide Oval.
“We can’t have selfish, self-centered players.
“We’ve done a lot of work to make sure we don’t have that.
“But when things get really tough and you’re feeling down, it’s human nature to think about yourself and ‘what does this mean for me?’
“We have a lot of work to do in this area.”
But Essendon’s Brayden Fiorini insists Bombers players are “100 per cent” behind the beleaguered coach.
Fiorini said Scott had prepared the team well and the players should have capitalized on a second consecutive poor performance and a 15th consecutive defeat.
“We stand with Scotty 100 percent,” Fiorini said.
“I thought he prepared us really well this week. We had a really good game plan and what we couldn’t execute was us players.”
“We couldn’t do that today. That’s our responsibility as players.”
Scott said it was fair to suggest he had no desire to defend.
“I think that’s part of it,” he said.
“It would be absurd for me to say that this is not the case.
“We’re not tenacious enough defensively, full stop.
“I am a coach who very rarely questions the lack of effort and the lack of challenge… but there is no doubt that we are demoralized.
“This may seem like a lack of effort and a lack of challenge.”
As the Bombers’ nightmare start to the season continued, the blowtorch on Scott went into overdrive.
Essendon were completely uncompetitive in the first quarter and were only marginally better in the second and third terms before the lead widened to 80 points in the fourth quarter.
Kane Cornes said “it was a coach-killing performance” during the first-half defeat at SEN, which ended with the Power scoring nine unanswered goals and Essendon trailing by 49 points.
The Bombers haven’t won a game since the ‘G clash with Richmond at last year’s Dreamtime. That was 303 days ago.
Essendon’s losing streak now stands at 15, the second longest in the club’s proud history, surpassed only by a 17-match losing streak during the 2016 doping suspension crisis.
The Power had little trouble securing coach Josh Carr’s first victory at the helm, but the news was less than positive for the home side as captain Connor Rozee suffered an injury to his left knee.
Rozee, who was the best on the field in the first half (by which time he had already amassed 20 touches) had to be gradually helped out from Adelaide Oval in the third quarter after suffering nerve numbness in the area as he lunged to tackle Sam Durham.
Rozee’s left knee was hyperextended during the chase, but there does not appear to be any damage to the joint.
Later in the fourth quarter, Miles Bergman left the game after hurting his left ankle in a marking contest against Nate Caddy.
Two more victims were added to the bombers’ casualty ward; Veteran linebacker Mason Redman injured the outside of his left knee on an awkward landing in the opener, and draftee Dyson Sharp rolled his left ankle on a typically wild tackle from Zak Butters.
After an unpleasant first-round defeat to North Melbourne, Port’s brass swung into action and put the Bombers to the sword.
Rozee was productive before injury, while Butters’ impact in the middle forced Essendon to hastily shelve the Archie Roberts title.
Aliir Aliir caught everything that came their way and Jason Horne-Francis, who came under heavy criticism for his quiet start against the Kangaroos, scored three goals in the first quarter before scoring a couple more.
Brayden Fiorini scored the first goal of the afternoon, but otherwise it was all Port, scoring 21 of the first 23 50-point points and taking a 32-point lead at quarter-time.
The Force were able to mark very freely in attack, punching holes in Essendon’s beleaguered backline and circling the visitors from the outside all afternoon, racking up points from 165 to 59.
A three-figure blowout looked a possibility before the Bombers saved a hundred with a late barrage of goals, Caddy (4.3) being the chief beneficiary, but by then Port’s mark was firmly on the shelf as the heat of the contest had long since faded.
Reid stars as Eagles stun Kangaroos in Perth
The West Coast’s current and future stars shone brightly as the Eagles overcame a 30-point deficit to record a 17-point upset win over North Melbourne in front of 47,083 fans at Optus Stadium.
The Kangaroos looked set for an easy win in Sunday’s game in Perth after taking a 49-19 lead early in the second quarter.
But the Eagles, who had the AFL’s youngest and most inexperienced roster, turned the game around, scoring eight of the next nine goals.
Elliot Yeo (19 disposals, two goals), Harley Reid (30 disposals) and Jamie Cripps (three goals) were key in the 17.9 (111) to 15.4 (94) victory that ended the club’s 14-game losing streak.
West Coast’s young talents shined.
No. 1 draft pick Willem Duursma scored two goals from 15 disposals as well as a stunning takeaway point in the final quarter.
Cooper Duff-Tytler, who was selected with the 4th pick, scored two goals himself, while second-year forward Jobe Shanahan and Archer Reid and mature Milan Murdock also played in a major.
AAP
Voss charged with misconduct for taunting Petty
Peter Ryan
Fremantle forward Patrick Voss will pay the price for taunting Melbourne’s Harrison Petty after the AFL accused him of misconduct for taunting Melbourne’s Harrison Petty.
The AFL fined Voss $1,500 for taunting a defender by rubbing his hair and then rubbing his eyes as if he were crying at the quarter-hour siren.
The tearful reference was to an incident in 2022 in which Petty became emotional after Lions captain Dayne Zorko teased him about his sick mother.
The AFL has no taunting rules but the MRO ruled Voss’s action was unsporting and unacceptable.
They concluded that Voss’ unnecessary actions could lead to retaliation. The league also aims to set an example for the community and minor leagues and hopes the punishment will deter players from such public skids.
Voss’ action on Sunday was widely condemned but Dockers coach Justin Longmuir defended the player post-match. “He’s doing a lot of things right in that sense. We understand that he walks a fine line sometimes and he has to get it done,” Longmuir said.
SEN commentator Kane Cornes said it was a difficult decision for the AFL but expressed concerns about setting a precedent.
“How can you ticket someone for making a crying gesture? It’s like he didn’t say anything…it’s a very slippery slope,” Cornes said.
Fox Footy’s David King said post-match that the AFL should take action to eliminate such incidents if possible. “I’m not sure if there’s anything in the rules where you can sanction the player, but it’s a worthwhile discussion because ultimately it’s an ugly part of our game that we don’t need,” King said.
Voss became a cult figure at the Dockers with his enthusiastic celebrations after scoring. He scored 37 goals last season. On Saturday he also picked up Melbourne winger Ed Langdon and walked to the fences with the Demon on his shoulders.
In other MRO findings, Gold Coast forward Bailey Humphrey has been offered a two-match ban for his rude conduct following his violent tackle on Richmond’s Maurice Rioli at the MCG on Saturday afternoon. The action was rated as reckless conduct, high impact and high contact.
Giants captain Toby Greene was also fined for striking St Kilda’s Marcus Windhager during the narrow defeat at Engie Stadium. On the eve of the season, Greene publicly announced his commitment to not be suspended this season.
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