AFL news: Melbourne and Western Bulldogs have fiery stand off at Perth nightclub after grand final

Putting the winner of the AFL premiership and the team they’d just hammered to win the flag in the same nightclub was always going to be a recipe for potential disaster.

Jake Lever pours champagne on Alex Neal-Bullen as the team celebrate in the middle of Optus Stadium two hours after the final siren. Picture: Michael Klein

Melbourne and Western Bulldogs players almost came to blows in a Perth nightclub two days after the AFL grand final, according to premiership Hawk Campbell Brown.

Speaking on the Herald Sun’s Browny’s Podcast, Brown said it was his understanding that the Bulldogs were not happy at the Demons players singing and dancing to ‘Freed from Desire’ on the Perth Stadium turf hours after their grand final win.

This was seen as them poking fun at the Dogs, after a video leaked of Bulldogs players dancing to the same song in the rooms following their preliminary final victory over Port Adelaide.

Brown said he’d been told tensions reached boiling point after the two teams arrived at the same nightspot a few days later.

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Jake Lever and his teammates get amongst it with some champagne moments. Picture: Michael Klein

“On the Monday or Tuesday night, the Doggies players had gone to this nightclub and the ground floor was general admission, they (the Dogs) had booked level two and level three was not open because it was a Monday night,” Brown said on the podcast.

“So, the Melbourne boys had had a few and they were feeling OK … so the boys gathered the troops and went to this club and they got there.

“Management say: ‘Boys, it’s great to have you here and we’ll accommodate you but the Dogs have got level two so you’re going to have to meander here with the general admission.’

“So one of the boys took some initiative and took some cash out, $10,000, and said to management: ‘Mate, here’s 10K, you open the top level.’”

Dejected Western Bulldogs players sit through the post-match ceremoney. Picture: Michael Klein

Brown said that was when it got heated, after ‘Freed from desire’ started to play on the Demons’ level.

“Security escorts them straight up, so now they’re on level three, the Doggies are on level two and remember, they hate each other and they’re hanging over the rails and giving it to the Doggies boys,” Brown said.

“It’s getting real heated, real personal and then they play that song again above them, and it gets to the point where players want to come to blows.

“They’re talking about it, (saying things like) ‘You come down, we’ll come up, we’re going to fight you, we’ll meet you halfway.’

“It would have been unbelievable and imagine that, the two teams that played the grand final on the Saturday punching on at a club on the Monday.

“It didn’t come to blows because a player from Melbourne and a player from the Western Bulldogs, who are best mates and used to live together and may still do, they met halfway between level two and three on safe ground, and negotiated a peace treaty that saved these two clubs coming to blows.

“That’s my mail on the ground in Perth and it’s factually correct.”

The alleged incident should add plenty of spice the next time the two clubs meet, which could come as soon as in Round 1 at the MCG next year following a request from the Demons.

Originally published as AFL news: Melbourne and Western Bulldogs have fiery stand off at Perth nightclub after grand final