AFL Monday night TV wrap: Geelong’s third-party audit, Carlton’s succession plan and Fremantle skipper’s ‘footy act’

Geelong is reportedly set to be fined after ‘discrepancies’ were found in the AFL’s third-party payments audit. Plus, Carlton’s succession plan, Ross Lyon and everything you missed on TV.

Geelong could be hit with a series of fines in excess of $10,000, according to a report on a football current affairs program on Monday night.

There was nowhere to hide for Carlton and Sydney, but Melbourne fans got to bask in a rare evening of praise on all fronts after more than two years of frustration.

Here is the play-by-play in case you accidentally missed or conscientiously objected to a night of football in front of the television.

Geelong coach Chris Scott. Picture: Michael Willson / Getty Images

The Agenda Setters

CATS EXPECTING THIRD-PARTY FINE

Caroline Wilson reported the AFL had “virtually finished” an audit of Geelong’s finances and was preparing to hand down a raft of fines in the five-figure range.

The probe had uncovered “nothing untoward”, Wilson said, but there were discrepancies found which would prompt minor penalties to be handed down.

“The audit is virtually finished … results have been slowed down by the fact that Geelong (chief operating officer) Marcus King has been away … my belief is that Geelong is expecting a fine, or there will be a fine from the AFL over the coming weeks,” Wilson said.

“Geelong have been adamant, from the word go, that there is no smoking gun here, that nothing untoward was going on at the Geelong Football Club in terms of any attempt to hide third party payments.

“The AFL accepts this, but there have been discrepancies, there have been lodgements that should have been noted that weren’t, and they will lead to several five-figure fines, whether they go beyond five figures, I can’t tell you.

"My belief is that Geelong are expecting a fine from the AFL over the coming weeks (for third-party player payments)."

🗣️ Caroline Wilson with an update on the AFL's third-party player payments audit of Geelong pic.twitter.com/rgM3a44O3o

— 7AFL (@7AFL) May 26, 2025

“I do know that one major lodgement issue was a car to a senior AFLW player that wasn’t lodged. And I think there might be a couple of other things as well.”

Western Bulldogs were last year issued a suspended $20,000 fine for making administrative errors in their AFLW third-party payments, while Brisbane was fined $10,000 for an error on its total player payments in 2017.

Wilson did not expect there to be any adverse findings around senior coach Chris Scott’s external agreements, or those of boom recruit Bailey Smith.

Craig Hutchison and Wilson delved into the club strategy behind St Kilda coach Ross Lyon’s eyebrow-raising “nepo baby” comment aimed at Gold Coast before their round 11 clash on Sunday.

Hutchison praised the firm response of Suns coach Damien Hardwick and chief executive Mark Evans to the Saints’ barbs, calling it “the maturing of a footy club that is long overdue”.

AFL 360

COACHES WEIGH IN ON WAR OF WORDS

The final quarter of Melbourne and Sydney was an extra boundary throw-in away from breaking the 40-minute barrier, and it warranted a mention straight off the top of 360 from Gerard Whateley.

Co-host Garry Lyon has been vocal about reducing the length of quarters since at least 2018, but wasn’t able to get into full swing before they started to unpack Carlton’s perplexing start to the season.

GWS and Fremantle coaches Adam Kingsley and Justin Longmuir were the guests of honour via video link, and Kingsley came to the defence of Gold Coast and his former Richmond comrade Hardwick over the “nepo baby” saga.

Now the senior coaches of GWS and Gold Coast, Adam Kingsley (left) and Damien Hardwick have to fly the flag for the four northern club academies. Picture: Michael Klein

“I think Dimma is in a perfect place to speak about the differences between a Melbourne club and a northern state club,” Kingsley said.

“That’s how I interpreted it (Lyon having a dig at the northern academies), and that's OK to have those views. I think there are a lot of clubs who have those opportunities.

“Father-sons are one where clearly us and Gold Coast don’t have the opportunities with, and there’s a few reasonable father-son players running around.”

Longmuir weighed in on Dockers captain Alex Pearce’s MRO charge for the high-speed collision which left Power defender Darcy Byrne-Jones concussed.

But he wisely chose not to reveal how Pearce’s lawyers planned to give the AFL tribunal the “heave-ho” on Tuesday.

“As I walked down here, they were talking to the lawyers about the specifics,” Longmuir said.

“My view is that it was a really difficult situation, both players found themselves in. We ask our players to play the ball, it was a snap out of a congested situation, Alex (Pearce) has made a play on the ball and Byrne-Jones has got there a fraction earlier than Alex.

“I was so strong on it after the game because I didn’t think Alex turned to brace and bump, I thought Alex left himself open as well. I’m not sure what a 200cm guy who’s running at full pace and going to take a chest mark in the wet can do in that situation.”

Footy Classified

MOVEMENT AT CARLTON?

There’s movement on the horizon at Carlton, according to AFL journalist Damian Barrett.

Barrett said he expected the Blues to pull the trigger earlier than expected on their CEO succession plan, with veteran administrator Brian Cook now likely to hand “the full set of keys” over to Graham Wright in July instead of October.

“I believe Graham Wright will be given a full set of keys to operations in July,” Barrett said.

“He will take full control, and take ownership of how the club walks into 2026 and beyond.”

He said Cook would still remain at Carlton for the three-month period to participate in the transition.

The panel pondered what it would mean for embattled senior coach Michael Voss’ future, given Wright’s success bringing in Craig McRae as a first-time coach as Collingwood when he was football boss there.

Underperforming Hawthorn and Sydney both came under the microscope, with Matthew Lloyd and Jimmy Bartel asking whether an ongoing groin issue was hampering Hawks skipper James Sicily and affecting his kicking.

Kysaiah Pickett was the star on Sunday. Picture: James Wiltshire/AFL Photos

On the Couch

THE DEES ARE BACK

The Demons are back, and while they got a good wrap on every show the most thorough look came from Jack Riewoldt and his men on the couch.

Nathan Buckley was full of praise for Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin’s “change of tact” in recent weeks, particularly in the way the Dees had found a more efficient method in the forward half of the ground.

There was unanimous agreement that the team could not have spiked without Kysaiah Pickett, who Jordan Lewis pointed out had delivered two of the league’s four 20-disposal, five-goal games by himself this season (the other two to hit the mark were Jesse Hogan and Sam Darcy).

“The bloke plays with enjoyment, he’s actually taking the game on and he is fearless in terms of being pressured by the opposition,” Buckley said.

Jake Melksham’s last few weeks up forward and Daniel Turner’s switch to defence were both highlighted by the panel as integral to the Demons’ more positive outlook.

On the other hand, the Swans served up the kind of performance that left them right in Jonathan Brown’s hitting zone.

Rolling vision of their lacklustre defensive efforts were like bowling half-volleys in the nets to the former Brisbane Lions champion.

“Missed tackles … that is an attitude thing and you’ve got to ask yourself, ‘are you ready for the contest?’ It just goes on and on and on, and no wonder you lose the game,” Brown said.

Collingwood’s 2024 mid-season draft gem Ned Long also won praise from the panel for his brilliant start to the season.