Adam Cooney won the Brownlow Medal in 2008 and handed Gary Ablett his medal in 2009, although not every meeting between the pair was as civilised as that one.
In a match-up between Ablett and Cooney during the former Dog and Bomber's career, the pair traded sledges on the field, and Cooney opened up to SEN about the incident itself, amidst a week fueled with speculation over Ablett's playing future.
“I had a crack to him about his mansion and how the boys were winning no games,” Cooney said.
“He just went on this tirade for about five minutes about how I’ve been overall so disappointing as a player to watch and so inconsistent throughout my career. He really took it personally that I hadn’t come along the way that I should have.
“He was really upset about it, saying ‘Geez, you’ve been disappointing as a player, Coons’.
“It’s like he’s been waiting to say it for three or four years and he finally got the opportunity and just unloaded on me.”
“At the end of the day I shook hands with him, I said, ‘You got the better of that exchange, didn’t you?’” Cooney said.
“He was like: ‘Oh nah I was only mucking around, mate.’ But, he wasn’t.”