The Melbourne Demons have spoken to players Jayden Hunt and Christian Petracca after the former playfully grabbed the latter’s behind during their 68-49 Aussie rules football win over Essendon on Saturday.
The incident occurred during three-quarter-time while the players were huddled around senior coach Simon Goodwin.
Fox Sports cameras caught Hunt giving Petracca a playful squeeze on the bottom before a laughing Petracca moved Hunt’s hand back onto his behind.
It’s said the pair “agreed it was inappropriate,” it was “not a good look for the club,” and that “it won’t happen again.”
But given the light-hearted nature of the incident, some fans were confused as to why the Demons felt the need to speak to the players about it.
“It looks consensual I’m not sure what the problem is?” asked one fan on Twitter. “Do either players care?” asked another. “If they are happy with this personal interaction why is anyone else involved?”
The tomfoolery follows a similar episode in August, in which Richmond players Nick Vlastuin and Jayden Short were forced to apologize after footage emerged of them touching teammate Mabior Chol’s genitals and bottom during the post-match club song.
Chol said he had “no issue whatsoever” with his teammates regarding the incident, but the AFL quickly condemned their behavior as “inappropriate, unacceptable and juvenile.”
Richmond captain Jack Riewoldt was also filmed in a similar incident with Tigers teammate Jayden Short, while St Kilda’s Dan Butler appeared to grope the genitals and behind of his teammate Jade Gresham.