The Score: Sydney Swans, Michael Christian furious with Grant Thomas over Twitter allegations
GRANT Thomas is in more hot water after a weekend Twitter tirade that has enraged an AFL club and senior league figure, and raised the possibility of legal action.
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GRANT Thomas is in more hot water after a weekend Twitter tirade that has enraged an AFL club and senior league figure, and raised the possibility of legal action.
The former St Kilda coach has become known for his take-no-prisoners rants but may have gone too far by sending out unsubstantiated claims about Lance Franklin and match review officer Michael Christian to his more than 20,000 followers.
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The Swans were furious at Thomas’s suggestions that Franklin and Dan Hannebery missed games this year for reasons other than injury.
Was Franklin & Hannebery injuries coincidentally the same time frame?🤔 Hearing perhaps internal punishment for off field indiscretions? I’m sure it’s just gossip - there’d be no way Bud would do anything wrong off field. 😳
— Grant Thomas (@Thomo_Grant) June 2, 2018
“He’s clearly wrong,” Swans chief executive Andrew Ireland told Footy Classified.
“The players are injured, and he’s saying we’re lying about it.
“It’s simply nonsense and people shouldn’t take notice of anything he says because he is so wrong about this he clearly has no credibility in anything else he says.”
Franklin and Hannebery both missed three games from Rounds 6-8 as Franklin recovered from a bruised heel while Swans coach John Longmire said Hannebery had a groin tear.
The club today backed Ireland’s comments but didn’t want to add any more to the controversy.
But Thomas was only getting started. After firing off a series of tweets about the Sydney pair, he then took aim at Christian with a tweet detailing an incident from amateur football a week ago.
Another AFL integrity model of behaviour....Michael Christian (Director of Football, St Kevin’s Old Boys VAFA) has his car blocked by another attendee to the game. He allegedly was caught letting a tyre down. Great leadership.
— Grant Thomas (@Thomo_Grant) June 2, 2018
Christian has a fair bit on his plate nowadays given his new role so he was less than impressed having to deal with this allegation as he was figuring out whether to make Nathan Fyfe ineligible for the Brownlow.
His version of events is that he moved a bollard which was blocking his car in but emphatically denies letting down tyres.
Thomas clearly wasn’t deterred by Sydney’s reaction to his Buddy claims, tweeting again on Monday. The club reportedly hasn’t ruled out legal action and there were similar suggestions from the Christian camp.
WHAT WILL GOODWIN WEAR?
MELBOURNE players had noticed Simon Goodwin making more frequent visits to the gym over the past couple of weeks.
And now they know why following the announcement that all 18 coaches will be taking part in the Freeze MND slide next Monday.
Forward Jake Melksham now wants his coach to flaunt the ripped look he’s been working on.
“I think he should just run with the dick togs if I’m honest,” Melksham said.
“He’s in good shape (so he) should get the rig out and go down it in some Speedos. That would be quite funny.
“He’s been in the gym for a couple of weeks now and we’ve only just found out that he’s doing the slide so now I know why he’s been in there which is smart of him.”
The Demons have asked fans to provide suggestions for Goodwin’s outfit, with Wolf of Wall Street, skiing and cheese platter-themed outfits among those submitted.
THE WHISPER
We hear the clock was wound back to the good old days for a milestone celebration over the weekend with a club great and former premiership teammate taking late arrival to a new level, rocking up to the festivities at 5am.
Originally published as The Score: Sydney Swans, Michael Christian furious with Grant Thomas over Twitter allegations