Fremantle forward Patrick Voss has reopened old wounds with several taunts directed at Melbourne’s Harrison Petty.
And it’s brought into question whether the AFL needs to introduce a rule against taunting.
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At quarter-time of Saturday night’s Fremantle vs. Melbourne clash, Voss and Petty were engaged in a verbal back-and-forth before the Dockers forward patronisingly patted Petty on the head.
But as the pair were separating, Voss, walking away, made “cry-baby” gestures towards Petty — which stems back to a controversial sledge made in 2022 by Brisbane’s Dayne Zorko that reduced Petty to tears.
On a heated night at the Gabba more than three years ago, Zorko made an untoward comment about Petty’s mother, which he later apologised for.
The repeated rubbing of Petty’s head and taunting of his bald spot, also did not go down well.
On Sunday the AFL’s Match Review Officer dropped the hammer and put every player in the competition on notice.
Voss was hit with a $1000 fine over the incident.
“The MRO deemed that Voss’s action of rubbing the head of Petty multiple times, combined with the ‘crying’ references was unsportsmanlike and unacceptable,” an AFL statement read.
“The action had the potential to instigate a melee or retaliatory action and is an action that we do not want to see flow down into community or junior football and hence the charge to deter players from doing it in the future.”
The incident was called out by AFL great Matthew Lloyd on Sunday morning before the charge was handed out.
“It’s not a great look and it’ll come back to Voss at some point,” Matthew Lloyd said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“You might have had the last laugh yesterday but when you’re rubbing players’ heads and questioning whether they’ve got a bald spot or whatever, it’ll come back to get you eventually.”
Damian Barrett added: “Damian BarrattI just think it’s unnecessary. No one knows what Harrison Petty is going through.I love the vibrancy Patrick Voss brings to the game but I don’t like the taunting.
“The taunting I don’t like is the awarding of a free kick to a player who then rubs the other player’s back or face into the ground after he’s been given the free kick.”
Two years later, in another fiery Demons-Lions meeting, Brisbane’s Noah Answerth made the same crying gesture towards Petty — about which he was also apologetic.
Now, Voss, an outspoken and polarising character, has controversially opened that old can of worms.
Fox Footy and Herald Sun reporter Jay Clark explained the circumstances and backstory behind Voss’ gesture.
“You can see that Voss first pats Petty on the back of his head and rubs his hair, and then after that, mocks him with the crying gesture,” Clark said on Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live.
“You can see the hands to the eyes (gesture). That’s essentially the cry-baby sledge, and that stems back to 2022, in a game between Melbourne and Brisbane.
“There was a lot of back-and-forth between Melbourne and the Lions players, but it was Dayne Zorko who overstepped the line and apologised for a comment he made about Harrison Petty’s mother … Petty was upset by it.
“He required some consoling from (former coach) Simon Goodwin at the time, and then two years later, we saw that rear its ugly head again. That’s Noah Answerth with the same sledge against Harrison Petty.
“It’s fair to say Harrison Petty has enjoyed absolutely none of that over the journey, and we saw it the third time tonight.”
Asked on Fox Footy about his tendency to get chirpy out on the field — and where the ‘line’ is — Voss said it was a fine “balancing act”.
“I’m definitely a competitor, and once I step over the white line, that’s the way that I can get myself into the game,” Voss responded to David King’s prompt.
“There were a few words being said, but yeah, shake hands at the end of the day.
“Probably early in my career I stepped over the line a few times, and as I’ve matured I’ve found the line fairly well, and I think I’m in a pretty good space at the moment.”
Probed in his post-match press conference on whether Voss went too far in taunting Petty, Longmuir said he wasn’t familiar with the incident.
“I’m unsure — I don’t know what context that was done in. When was it?” he told reporters at Optus Stadium.
“I don’t know what context it was in; I don’t know the incident. We were walking down at quarter time.
“He treads a fine line, but I think he gets most of it right. Yeah, (I’ll) follow up with him, have a chat and see what that is.”
Clark then asked the panel whether the AFL needs a no-taunting rule, similar to the NFL’s.
“I think there will be a reflection there from the club and from Patrick that that’s just a step too far,” two-time flag-winner David King began on Fox Footy.
“You can embarrass them in the way you play, but you can’t humiliate them face-to-face.
“I think you’ve got to have a status to get away with that kind of stuff, and the harsh reality is Patrick Voss doesn’t have that yet.
“You’re going at players and causing scenes. I think it’s a bad look, and I don’t think the AFL will be thrilled with this.
“I think the taunting rule will come into effect … I’m not sure whether there’s anything in the rules right now that you could sanction the player (with), but it’s worthy of a discussion, because in the end, it’s an ugly part of our game that we don’t need.
“It doesn’t sell our code or do our code any favours to the greater community.”
Triple premiership forward Jack Riewoldt was a tad more circumspect on the topic.
“Until we know exactly what was said tonight between Patrick Voss and Harrison Petty, and a myriad of other players, we just have to make sure that we know players don’t cross the line,” Riewoldt said.
“I’m sure the AFL will look into that. I hate players rubbing other players on the head. It frustrates me to no end, but we’re seeing more and more of it. It’s part of the current game … there is a mental element to this game as well.
“There is a line you have to be careful you don’t cross, because clubs don’t forget, and this comes back to bite you on the butt sometimes, so you’ve got to be really careful.”
Originally published as AFL drop the hammer over Freo star’s controversial gesture on rival
