They were the stories that made us say ‘what the?’ and will go down in footy folklore
FROM classic dummy spits to coach sprays, media blunders and everything in-between, recap our favourite quirky moments from the 2017 season. The were some jaw-droppers.
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MOST of the time football is a pretty serious business.
But this isn’t one of those times.
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While the 2017 season will be remembered for giving us Richmond’s drought-breaking premiership win, Dustin Martin’s season for the ages and the rise of AFLW, it also threw up plenty of less spectacular moments.
From classic dummy spits to coach sprays, media blunders and everything in-between, recap our favourite quirky moments from the 2017 season.
TAKING FOOTY SNACKS TO NEW HEIGHTS
Forget the hotdogs and meat pies, Melbourne supporter Ned Trumble took the traditional footy menu to new heights with his very own platter full of goodies when the Demons took on St Kilda in Round 13.
“It was a bit of a smorgasbord,” Trumble said in the days after a photo of his lunch had gone viral. The menu included semi-sun-dried tomatoes, green olives, avocado and some baguettes.
Luckily for the fans around him, Trumble left the potentially smelly smoked trout he had prepared in his kit bag.
The pressure is now on the rest of the Demons army to focus less on spending their weekends at the snow and more on upping their food game.
“I hope (I have inspired more people to do it),” Trumble said. “Let’s hope it is opening up a debate about what we eat at the footy.”
WHO IS GOING TO CLEAN THAT UP?
It was the lesson all Essendon players learnt the hard way ... when Brendon Goddard gets angry, make sure you beat him to the food table.
In what was easily the best dummy spit of the season, Goddard stormed into Essendon’s change rooms at half-time and smashed a plate of pretzels off the table.
We aren’t exactly sure what he was trying to achieve but Bombers skipper Dyson Heppell looked far from impressed. Maybe Heppell wanted some pretzels himself or maybe he was wondering who would have to clean up the mess.
Either way, Goddard was on the end of a long, long, long stare from his captain.
How's the dummy spit from Brendon Goddard?! And the follow up Dad look from Dyson Heppell, as if to say "yes, and what did that achieve?" pic.twitter.com/9CrI7ltFSp
— Neroli Meadows (@Neroli_M_FOX) June 3, 2017
Goddard should be made to eat all the pretzels off the floor as punishment
— Higgo (@Higgo74) June 23, 2017
THE DOG WAS TO BLAME
The story always seemed like it had a few holes in it. But the initial small holes soon became the size of the Grand Canyon.
Collingwood rising star Jordan De Goey suffered a broken hand on the eve of the 2017 season after injuring it while throwing a toy to his dog. Yep, that’s what he said.
It didn’t take long though for the truth to come out.
Just days after his coach Nathan Buckley had publicly backed De Goey’s story, it emerged the No.5 draft pick actually broke his hand in an altercation. De Goey was fined $5,000 and banned for three weeks.
“Understandably, after the weekend’s events I’ve definitely lost some of the trust of the playing group, the coaching staff and everyone who works at the club,” De Goey said at the time.
THE SCOOP OF THE YEAR
It was one of the biggest questions throughout the 2017 season. Was Nat Fyfe playing his last year with the Dockers?
While the football world waited, Perth radio DJ Brad Fitzgerald, co-host of the “Carmen and Fitzi” program on radio station 96FM, dropped the “exclusive news” that the star midfielder was off to the Saints.
“The offer is worth $1.5 million a season and it is - as far as legally wise - it’s virtually accepted,” Fitzgerald said on air. “He can’t sign yet but it’s basically a done deal and he is going to St Kilda.”
There was just one problem. No one told Fyfe he had committed to this supposed “done deal.” A spokesman for Stride Sports (Fyfe’s management group) said the report was completely false. Soon after, Fyfe re-signed with the Dockers on a long-term deal.
IT WAS ONLY A KISS
Is there anything better than winning a Grand Final?
While most footballers would say no, for Jack Riewoldt, receiving his premiership medal may have been the second best thing to happen to him on the last Saturday in September.
In the aftermath of the Tigers’ win, Riewoldt managed to find his way on stage with The Killers. But Jack wasn’t there just to make up the numbers.
He produced maybe his best effort, after what had already been a very big day, with his rendition of classic hit Mr Brightside. The footage went viral online, with Riewoldt even added to the band’s Wikipedia page for a short time.
“I was trending more than Donald Trump,” Riewoldt said in the aftermath.
IS THIS THE SPRAY OF THE YEAR?
Majak Daw says he has a pretty thick skin.
That’s lucky because Brad Scott gave it to the ruckman with everything he had after a blunder against the Bombers.
Daw was ordered to the bench with Scott ready and waiting to let him have it.
Following the spray Daw detailed exactly how he was feeling.
DUDE, WHERE’S MY CAR?
Neil Balme had a pretty busy (and successful) first year at Richmond so we can forgive him for making the odd blunder. But this one was odd.
While trying to make a break from a door stop interview, Balme made his way through the Punt Rd carpark, opened his car and jumped in. There was only one problem. It wasn’t his car.
“Is this my car?” Balme said. “How did I get in that car?”
We were wondering the same thing.
HOW’D HE MISS THAT?
There were plenty of costly misses during the 2017 season.
But of all the set shots, bananas, dribble kicks and everything else, one miss stood out above all else.
What was Josh Bruce thinking down in Tasmania?
The St Kilda forward didn’t have an opponent anywhere near him and had all the time in the world to launch a torpedo into the back row of the stands.
Bruce launched alright but unfortunately for him, it was straight into the blooper reel.
Read Bruce’s explanation here.
VIDEO: Do you buy Josh Bruce's explanation for his 'worst miss in AFL history'? https://t.co/Qtk1G4JNgU pic.twitter.com/EUnCSwSrl6
— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) April 30, 2017
HARDIE V LYON, BUCKS
There was something about the Perth radio airwaves that got people a little fired up in 2017.
Broadcaster Brad Hardie made headlines across the league when he said Ross Lyon had shown interest in coaching Collingwood in 2018.
At the time Magpies coach Nathan Buckley was in the midst of a football review and no one knew if he would stay or go come season’s end.
Hardie’s claim didn’t sit well with either Lyon or Buckley, with both slamming the comments.
“I am bitterly disappointed that such so called journalism even sees the light of day,” Lyon said. “I have contacted Brad Hardie directly and voiced my disgust at his comments.”
Buckley took things a step further, suggesting Hardie should lose his media accreditation. Buckley later had his contract extended and Lyon is contracted at the Dockers until 2020.
HAMGATE
Verbal sledges have been around football since the very first game.
But Geelong defender Harry Taylor took things a step further in 2017 by introducing prop sledging.
Taylor’s Adelaide opponent Josh Jenkins had been struck down with a bad case of food poising after eating a bad ham. Although he was able to recover in time to take on the Cats, Taylor wasn’t about to let Jenkins forget his week from hell.
In one of the most bizarre moments of the season, Taylor shook Jenkins’ hand after the match with a slice of ham in it.
“Stuffed if I know (why he did it). You’d have to ask him,” Jenkins said in the aftermath.
“I’m not mates with him, I barely know him. I’ve never even really had a conversation with him. He’s a different cat.”
THE ‘LIBBA EXEMPTION’
Not all players like to get away from football in the off-season.
Tom Liberatore proved in 2016 that he couldn’t get enough, lining up for Macau in the AFL Asian Championship.
We haven’t gone through every AFL Asia team sheet but we are pretty confident Libba is by far the best player to run around in the competition. Such was the star Dog’s impact, AFL Asia has factored in a “Libba Exemption” for all future championships.
The newly introduced rule for 2017 states: “If a player has won an AFL Grand Final within the previous month, he is permitted to play for a second division team at Asian Champs.
“AFL Asia takes no responsibility for any breach of contractual obligations imposed by the AFL or its clubs by that player taking the field.”
After Richmond’s stunning September, organisers may have been anticipating a surprise Dustin Martin appearance.
Libba tearing #AFLAsia apart. New haircut and all... pic.twitter.com/okhUbLWmLV
— TAB (@tabcomau) October 17, 2016
Everyone is going gaga over Libba's new hair cut, I'm sure he only wants to get one of these stamped on the scone...#bemorebulldog #GoDogs pic.twitter.com/OODYoDYjA2
— Stu Calvert 🔴⚪ï¸ðŸ”µðŸ† (@mighty_west) October 17, 2016
SURFS UP
There are plenty of cures for a cold.
But throw the chicken soup out the window and don’t even think about going to the doctor.
Fremantle youngster Connor Blakely has no doubt surfing is the answer.
Blakely left training early during the season because he was ill, only to take a trip later that day to Bunbury and Yallingup for a surf.
The Dockers were less than impressed when they found out and handed him a one-game suspension. The incident occurred just two days after Blakely had signed a contract extension.
SAM AND DANGER GO HEAD-TO-HEAD
Sam Newman made plenty of headlines in 2017, with one of the biggest coming in an ugly feud with Patrick Dangerfield.
The war of words began when Dangerfield labelled Newman irrelevant following comments he made about Caitlyn Jenner. The Footy Show host didn’t take too kindly to Dangerfield’s assessment and immediately fired back.
“Pat had a crack at me on the radio. Join the queue if you want to have a go at me. I think it stops at Ballarat,” Newman said.
“Pat, please, if you’re going to have a go at me for not understanding the era of political correctness we live in, don’t call me old. I don’t mind if you call me old but that is an ageist comment and it reflects badly on people in the workforce who are my age.
“Let’s be consistent, instead of coming on here like a perfume dwarf and thinking that if you act like a ventriloquist’s dummy, that will cut the mustard here, it won’t.”
SELWOOD GETS THE LAST LAUGH
Scott Selwood played some ripping footy in 2017. But he had few moments better than a clip for Dale Thomas on the Footy Show.
Years earlier Thomas had drawn first blood between the two, listing a sledge he delivered at Selwood as one of the best in his career.
“We were winning and I was playing all right and he was tagging me in the last quarter and I think I just kicked a goal and I said, oh well mate, four brothers, one of you had to be the worst,” Thomas said.
It took a while but Selwood finally got his revenge.
Asked if he would tag Thomas the next time the two sides played, the 27-year-old said, “I’m not sure where the Northern Blues are playing that weekend.”
Whack! At the time Thomas had been dumped to the seconds despite being one of the Blues highest paid players.
BEARD BUY
We’ve heard of fans buying player jumpers after games. But how about coughing up top dollar for a player’s beard?
That’s exactly what one lucky fan did when securing Max Gawn’s beard in an eBay auction.
Gawn shaved his trademark beard to raise money for the Reach Foundation.
The beard came in a bag personally signed by Gawn and was presented in a “beautiful” presentation box.
We aren’t sure what the lucky punter paid, but there is no doubt the value of the beard will likely increase at a similar rate to Bitcoin.
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