It wouldn’t be often that Lance Franklin is left red-faced.
This did occur at least once, however, according to Ted Richards who regaled SEN listeners with an intriguing anecdote about the superstar.
Back in 2014 when ‘Buddy’ first arrived at the Sydney Swans from Hawthorn, he opted to go with the nickname of ‘Moorey’ for then youngster Tim Membrey.
Teammate Richards has explained the reason why.
“The story that came to mind that I thought needed to be shared,” Richards said on SEN’s Bob and Andy.
“It might have been mid-season. Buddy had been calling young Tim Membrey in his first year ‘Moorey’ for a while.
“As you know, there’s a lot of nicknames that can circulate around a football club and you don’t always know the background.
“So you just jump on board especially if you pick up that the individual doesn’t actually like the name. You run with it even more.
“At some stage throughout the season, somebody said, ‘Buddy, can you tell us why you’re calling Timmy ‘Moorey’?
“There’s this look on Buddy’s face and he’s like, ‘What do you mean?’. Buddy says, ‘You know, the bloke with the tattoos… Moorey’.
“No no no, that’s Tim Membrey.
“I remember this moment where everyone kind of laughed and you realise people are laughing for different reasons. People realise Buddy was serious, then Buddy is laughing, going ‘you almost got me with a joke’.
“The story behind it is, every player has a sponsor above their locker and above Tim Membrey’s locker was Paul Moore, and Buddy thought that was the name tag.”
It didn’t take ‘Moorey’ to get sick of the nickname and eventually leave the Swans for St Kilda at the end of 2014.
Disclaimer: Membrey actually departed the Swans as a delisted free agent.