Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon has slammed Eddie Betts for his comments surrounding the aftermath of Andrew Gaff’s punch on Andrew Brayshaw.
Betts waved off the one-week suspension for any punch thrown idea, saying the act is “part of footy”.
“Nah, it shouldn’t be (banned). That’s part of footy. You know, it kind of puts them off their game,” Betts told FIVEaa
“As long as you don’t hit them in the head and Gaff obviously wasn’t trying to hit Brayshaw in the head.”
Lyon doesn’t like the message this kind of comment sends.
“Eddie (Betts) said nah, nah, let’s keep punching, as long as you don’t punch in the head – punch everywhere else,” Lyon told the AFL Nation pregame show.
“That’s a great example to set for young players and young kids who idolise you.
“Imagine a kid goes home and says ‘dad, Eddie reckons it’s okay to punch (on the footy field), you can punch anywhere, as long as you don’t punch them in the head’.”
“I was staggered by that. When did punching become part of the game?”
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