‘If people have taken that the wrong way, I’m sorry’: Eddie Betts apologises for punching comments

ADELAIDE star Eddie Betts has apologised for his controversial comments on punching in the wake of the Andrew Gaff incident, saying they were taken ‘way out of proportion’, as he looks to end a disappointing season on a high.

• Still room in game for punching: Betts
• Pleasure and pain: Crow still smarting after 98 triumph
• Rucci: Umpires can end punching scourge
• Russell: Have we thought Gaff punch response through?

ADELAIDE star Eddie Betts has apologised for his controversial comments on punching in the wake of the Andrew Gaff incident, saying they were taken out of context.

Betts drew criticism, most notably from “staggered” Melbourne legend Garry Lyon, for responding to a question on whether the AFL should outlaw punching by saying there was still room for little punches to put off opponents as long as “you don’t try to hit them in the head”.

On Friday, Betts said his comments “were taken way out of proportion”.

“I honestly don’t want people to go out and punch people,” Betts said.

Eddie Betts has a snap for goal against GWS last weekend. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

“I’ve got two little boys that will go to school and say ‘Dad says it’s OK to punch then I can punch’, that’s incorrect.

“It’s a contact sport, we don’t want to take the contact out of it.

“I don’t want people to go out there with the mindset of I’m going to punch somebody with a closed fist.

“That’s not my intention to say that, if people have taken that the wrong way, I’m sorry.”

Lyon took particular issue with Betts’ earlier comments, telling AFL Nation it was a bad example.

“Eddie (Betts) said nah, nah, let’s keep punching, as long as you don’t punch in the head — punch everywhere else,” Lyon said on AFL Nation.

“Imagine a kid goes home and says ‘dad, Eddie reckons it’s okay to punch (on the footy field), you can punch anywhere, as long as you don’t punch them in the head’.”

“I was staggered by that. When did punching become part of the game?”

Betts, meanwhile, said he was keen on finishing a disappointing season — which has yielded just 25 goals this year after hauls of 51, 63, 75 and 55 since crossing to the Crows— on a high with wins against North Melbourne and then his old club Carlton.

He also had no interest in putting the feet up early to make way for young blood.

“(Don Pyke) actually come to me yesterday and said ‘Ed what have you got for the next two weeks’.

“I said just fun and he said ‘that’s what I want to see that’s what the fans want to see and that’s you enjoying yourself, having some fun and bringing that smile back’.”

Watch every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >