Footy commentator Brian Taylor goes rogue after X-rated replay

A football great couldn’t hold his tongue after Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli was stitched up by some revealing footage.

Brian Taylor couldn’t help himself.

The veteran AFL caller left Channel 7 colleague Kane Cornes chortling as he went rogue over revealing footage of Bulldogs champion Marcus Bontempelli during the club’s big win over St Kilda on Thursday night at Marvel Stadium.

The Dogs captain was somewhat stitched up when TV cameras captured the moment he crashed into the back of St Kilda’s Mitch Owens, giving a free kick away with a high tackle in the third quarter.

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Slow-motion replays regrettably proved more revealing than most with the three-time AFL Players Association MVP seen sliding over his opponent’s back and then landing on the ball.

Taylor was quick to point out Bontempelli’s tackle when the replay showed the moment the 29-year-old took a direct hit to his middle stump.

“Have a look at Bontempelli here,” Taylor said.

“He lands on the ball in an awkward position. You can see just here, I think it got him right on the doodle.

“He felt uncomfortable for a moment.”

Cornes chuckled and responded by saying: “It’s a good pick up”.

You can watch the incident in the video player above

Brian Taylor with Matthew Richardson (left) with Marcus Bontempelli compromised by TV cameras (right). Photo: 7Plus.

Hawthorn great Luke Hodge also responded by saying: “I thought he was disappointed because he gave away the free kick, but that’s the reason”.

The grimace on Bontempelli’s face said it all.

Bontempelli’s unfortunate flop wasn’t the only bizarre incident with footy fans left snickering over an apparent coin toss injury before the game.

Thursday night’s TV broadcast showed the moment a corporate representative of St Kilda sponsor Chery Motor Group came undone with an apparent hamstring strain while flipping the coin.

The unfortunate victim was seen immediately grabbing at the muscle after hoisting the coin into the air with enough force to launch Elon’s SpaceX Starship.

The man bravely hobbled off as Bontempelli and St Kilda captain Jack Steele ran back to their team huddle before the first bounce.

One video of the pre-match injury shared by footy commentator Giulio Di Giordio has more than two million views on X.

The hamstring homicide was discussed after the game on Seven with Saints champion Nick Riewoldt more than a little amused.

“That’s unbelievable. Can you imagine his WhatsApp group at the moment,” he said with a laugh.

“It’d be merciless. Wow.”

He went on to say: “It’s been a rough night for Saints people”.

The victim was lucky to survive the incident. Photo: Fox Footy.

Leading injury analyst Brien Seeney, the physiotherapist behind the popular “NRL PHYSIO” account on X, also posted a video of the hammy ping, writing: “Textbook coin-toss hamstring strain mechanism.

“Likely to require 2-4 weeks recovery. Main rehab challenge is loading - need to start with tossing 5c coins and slowly progress all the way up to 50c. If that’s done too quickly re-injury risk is sky high.”

Channel 7 reporter Mitch Cleary said people inside the Saints camp had confirmed the act was not staged and had in fact been a real injury.

It was a rough old night for the Saints with coach Ross Lyon left being blunt with reporters after the 72-point thumping.

Lyon said there’s was “no magic bullet” to fix the issues plaguing his struggling team as another season threatens to peter out into obscurity.

Originally published as Footy commentator Brian Taylor goes rogue after X-rated replay