Geelong coach Chris Scott had had his say on the explosive spat between Ken Hinkley and James Sicily that followed last Friday’s epic sem-final between Port Adelaide and Hawthorn.
After Port walked away with an epic three-point victory, tempers flared as veteran coach Hinkley taunted the Hawthorn players (whose stunning season had just come to a heartbreaking end).
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Chris Scott weighs in on Sicily-Hinkley spat.
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The AFL took a dim view of the incident and fined Hinkley a whopping $20,000, but others have thought that was excessive and the moment was in fact great theatre.
Speaking on Channel 7’s Talking Footy, Scott said “everyone accepts it’s an emotional game”.
“But not everyone … clearly the AFL (didn’t like it). Perhaps they (the AFL) overreached a little bit when it came to their reaction (and the fine).”
Asked if it was a “bad look”, Scott said it depended on how you looked at it.
“If it’s a bad look for the game, it should never be promoted again, and the AFL should distance themselves from it,” he said.
“But I don’t think they will.
“I suspect overtime they will use it to reinforce the rivalry that might be developing between those two teams.
“But I also accept things that can start as a friendly jibe can escalate pretty quickly.”
Scott said the AFL did, however, have a big responsibility.
“We’re a bit of strange operation because they’re not governing the elite competition, they’re governing football at all levels,” he said.
“So they do have a responsibility to make sure that things don’t escalate at the lower levels.
“But the chances of that escalating, knowing the people we know in the game, are zero.”
7NEWS.com.au revealed on Thursday what Sicily exactly said to Hinkley.
Among several expletives, a source told 7NEWS.com.au that Sicily said Port had been a “nowhere club for eight years”.
The feud between the two clubs had been building before the semi-final and started when Hawthorn Jack Ginnivan replied to a social media post by Swans player Brodie Grundy that he’d “see (Grundy) in 14 days”.
The inference in Ginnivan’s comment was that Port Adelaide were not a threat and they would lose the final to Hawthorn.
After the match, Hinkley was seen gesturing in Ginnivan’s direction, imitating a plane and mouthing “you’re not flying”.
There mixed reports about whether Hinkley swore or not, but Sicily certainly did.
Hinkley was apologetic after the incident and said he regretted his actions.
Despite his apologies, the AFL still whacked Hinkley.
But South Australian football legend Graham Cornes believes Hawthorn response is what deserved a league slapdown.
“He (Hinkley) gently waved his arm and said ‘you’re not flying’,” Cornes told 7NEWS.com.au.
“And it’s Sicily that comes back ferociously.
“Ken Hinkley was just responding to Ginnivan’s comments in a benign way.”
Cornes said Hinkley was the “calmest of them all” and described the AFL’s sanction as an “abuse of power”.
“If you have a crack, he can have a crack back,” he said.