Damien Hardwick rages fury at AFL staffer after phone rings in press conference

HE spends a large portion of his working life telling journalists to turn their phones off in press conferences. THE SCORE

HE spends a large portion of his working life telling journalists to turn their phones off in press conferences.

Yet the AFL’s Media Manager Patrick Keane didn’t just break his own rule once — but twice — over the weekend.

The first time his phone blurted into action at an inappropriate time was during Ross Lyon’s press conference on Saturday but the Dockers coach was unfazed given he was in good spirits following his team’s victory.

It was a completely different story the following day when Keane was in charge of Damien Hardwick’s press conference.

He’d been asked by the waiting journalists to find out the details of the Lindsay Thomas report and had made a call to a fellow AFL staffer just as the Richmond coach arrived.

Hardwick was understandably boiling and was looking for an avenue to vent — Keane’s phone provided it.

As Hardwick was being asked about a controversial non-decision which cost his team late in the game, the ringing phone caught his attention.

“”Seriously? F****** moron,” the Tigers coach hissed.

Keane actually missed the spray because he’d already scurried out the door the moment the phone had gone off.

``I had my phone blocking outside calls but not internally,” Keane explained. “And I wasn’t expecting them to call straight back.

“When it rang I knew it would be quicker to step out the door than actually turn it off.

“It was a fundamental phone rookie error.”

Keane didn’t know about Hardwick’s vent until yesterday morning when his phone once again started ringing, this time with the media quizzing him about being the star of the press conference.

NOT much has fazed Wayne Carey throughout his career, both on and off the field, but on Sunday he went AWOL from his radio duties.

The former North Melbourne champion missed his old team’s stunning elimination final victory because he’d gone to ground after his infamous affair with teammate Anthony Stevens’ wife hit the headlines again.

Stevens appeared in an emotional ‘Open Mike’ episode with Mike Sheahan — which aired on Fox Footy last night — speaking for the first time about the affair which rocked the football world in 2002.

Carey is Triple M’s main special comments man on its Sunday team with his late decision to pull out forcing Wayne Schwass to switch from calling duties to the experts’ seat.

Regular caller Barry Denner then got the SOS to share ball-by-ball duties with Brian Taylor.

From the pool to the strip club...if u don't have a strip club at home, U ain't a cricket 'Player' ..… https://t.co/nQZHtAkaUx

— Chris Gayle (@henrygayle) September 13, 2015

Chris Gayle

Only West Indian cricketer Chris Gayle could install a ‘strip club’ in his home. The caption with the image read: “From the pool to the strip club ... if u don’t have a strip club at home, U ain’t a cricket ‘Player’. I always make sure my guest well entertained and feel like they are at home.”

THE WHISPER

Is recently departed Geelong premiership hero Mathew Stokes on Gold Coast’s radar? The highly regarded Stokes — a good friend of Gary Ablett’s — is viewed as the perfect fit for a mentor role to the club’s indigenous players, in particular rising young star Jack Martin.