Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has urged Port Adelaide's senior players to direct their energy on the field after Travis Boak and Tom Rockliff made comments on the AFL's supposed Victorian bias.
Both Port Adelaide veterans were critical of Victorian clubs having extended runs at the MCG, particularly as the COVID-19 crisis raises the possibility of all 18 AFL clubs being centralised in Victoria to get the season back underway.
Boak and Rockliff's concerns around the fixture came after last year's premier, Richmond, finished the season with seven consecutive home and away games at the MCG.
While Lloyd admitted that the Power duo make "reasonable" points, he said the players run the risk of looking like they've made excuses before a ball has been kicked.
"if I'm the coach Ken Hinkley, I'd say, 'Guys put it away'. All it looks like is that we're making excuses'," Lloyd told Footy Classified.
"Save that for (Port CEO) Keith Thomas to go and fight your battles behind closed doors.
"With Port Adelaide, they're an emotional group. They lost to Richmond when Richmond had their best five players out in Adelaide last year, the week after they go and beat West Coast, so to me again it's emotion taking over.
"If I'd was Ken Hinkley, I'd be saying, 'Boaky, Tom, lets control what we can control. Don't go worrying about how many games Richmond has, that's our CEO's battle. You guys head down, bum up because it could come back to haunt us. We're the team again making reasons why things may be hard before the season even starts'."
However, Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes, who has also previously raised the issue of the AFL being Victoria-centric, praised the players for speaking their minds.
"We know that the Victorian teams get their benefit, but we've got to give a similar benefit to the interstate clubs," he said.
"You (Lloyd) made a great media career out of having interesting things to say as a player, so when those players come up, I want to hear what the captain of the club, Travis Boak, has to say.
"I'm not sure we can be critical of them for speaking their mind and getting across a message that is clearly frustrated."
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/matthew-lloyd-urges-port-adelaide-travis-boak-tom-rockliff-to-focus-on-field-after-victorian-bias-comments/bf2fbc16-2ac3-4146-a13f-292d1a054e97
0 Comments