GWS veteran Callan Ward has become the target of social media and email abuse after receiving a contentious free kick in the Giants’ narrow win over Essendon.
With his side clinging to a four-point lead, Ward won a free kick for high contact when Bombers big man Shaun McKernan ran into him with his head over the ball with 92 seconds left.
The ex-skipper went back to kick the sealing goal in his first game back from a knee problem.
But Ward, voted the AFL’s most courageous player in 2018, has since come under attack from angry footy followers arguing he is guilty of staging.
The midfielder’s three-day-old Instagram post of his baby son was last night hijacked by hateful messages, with one comment saying they hoped Ward did his knee again. Ward last year suffered a season-ending ACL injury.
Ward has also received abusive emails to his personal account.
When asked post-match about the contentious play, Ward admitted that he knew contact was coming, but stopped short of admitting he played for the free kick. Photos show McKernan making contact with Ward’s head.
"I thought I played it pretty well," Ward said.
"I didn't play for it, but I knew the contact was coming."
Giants coach Leon Cameron and Essendon counterpart John Worsfold refused to comment on the incident.
The free kick came a day after Sydney Tom Papley was fined for staging in Sydney’s loss to Collingwood on Thursday, prompting some to argue Ward should cop a similar sanction.
Former Geelong forward Cameron Mooney said the Ward decision was a “hard one”. "I don't think there was a free kick. He manipulated the contest to his advantage,” Mooney said on Fox Footy.
"I hate staging, but I'm OK with what Ward tried to do. I don't class that as a stage to where Papley did, where he flew through the air."
But Mooney’s ex-teammate Cameron Ling told ABC Grandstand: "(Ward) threw it out there, and the ump got conned by it.”
"It was a crucial decision, and it wasn't there."
Former Sydney midfielder Jude Bolton tweeted: “Should have been play on. However … Ward went lower and put his head in the hole to try and win it, (but) definitely hammed it up and accentuated contact from McKernan.”