Former Fremantle forward Hayden Ballantyne has revealed the sledge that triggered a furious reaction from Geelong champion Matthew Scarlett.
Scarlett floored Ballantyne with a punch to the face during their Round 1 match in 2012 that saw the Cats defender suspended for three weeks
“Pretty much every interview I do this gets raised,” Ballantyne told SEN's This Is Your Sporting Life thanks to Tobin Brothers Funerals.
“Paul Chapman, he was our target player for that game. Ryan Crowley was the tagger at the time and Chapman was out, he had a good 15-20 metres on ‘Crowls’ so I thought I’ve got to stop this bloke.
“So I’ve come off my line and laid a good bump on him and he obviously didn’t see me coming because he was pretty winded, and I got a few weeks for that.
“One of our young blokes, first-year player, ran down Matty Scarlett, got him holding the ball and then we kicked a goal.
“He was the best defender at the time in the AFL so I just went and gave him a few choice words saying, ‘Your six All-Australians count for not much at the moment’ … how do you feel? And he just laid one on my chin.
“It got to him really quick and he just cracked it I suppose.”
Ballantyne retired at the end of last season after kicking 254 goals in 171 games for the Dockers.