Essendon have come under fire for their halftime antics during their clash against Geelong, with Hawthorn champion Shane Crawford questioning the team's image as the Bombers went on to lose by 66 points.
The Bombers' playing group were seen smiling and laughing during halftime, where they were sitting 59 points behind the Cats with just two goals to their name.
Images of the huddle quickly spread to social media, with many fans questioning the players position during a must-win clash.
“It’s not a good look,“ Crawford told Wide World of Sports‘ Full Time.
“Imagine throwing that picture out to Instagram or Twitter and asking all the supporters ‘What is going on?’
“The thing that I don‘t like when sides lose, especially in really important games, you see players with big smiles on their faces interacting with opposition players at the end.
“Obviously here they‘re having a bit of fun in some way trying to get themselves sparked up to get back into the match. But you’ve got to understand they were playing for a finals spot.
“I‘m sure at the moment with the way things are in Victoria and all the Essendon supporters watching this, they wouldn’t be happy. It’s not a good look.
“When you‘re getting a whack like that, you can’t be seen having a lot of fun out on the footy field. It just doesn’t work like that. I don’t think it’s going to go to well in the football world…especially at half time when they were slaughtered by the Cats.”
Former Essendon defender Adam Ramanauskas slammed the players' performance in the season-defining loss.
“The standout for me is when your season is on the line and that‘s what you serve up, that’s really disappointing for the football club,” he said on RSN Breakfast.
“They absolutely didn‘t look like it. At times, they looked like witches hats“