Former Essendon captain Tim Watson has urged players to think about implementing an on-field sledging code of conduct.
The call comes after an incident on Saturday afternoon that saw Carlton skipper Marc Murphy take offence to a comment from Saints players, before giving his own back to Jake Carlisle which sparked an all-in scuffle right before the three-quarter time siren.
“It is of a family nature. It’s a personal family thing that was pointed out on the weekend and that is why Murphy reacted in the way that he did,” Watson said on SEN 1116 on Monday.
“This is a player issue, not an AFL issue.
“Lots of stuff gets said out there on the AFL field, But what do the players find acceptable? What’s crossing the line? What’s banter?
“If what I’ve been told is what’s been said to Murphy, I would find it extremely disappointing to think the modern AFL player thinks it’s fair game.
“Write a code among yourselves boys and be mature ... the players (should) develop their own code of conduct as to what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.”
As well as asking the players to take it upon themselves to fix the issue, Watson has called for the AFL Players Association to intervene as well.
“By five o’clock today, I would hope that we would hear from the Players Association in some meaningful way and say okay we’re going to do something about this, this is not acceptable,” Watson said.
“We would like to think that all our members of the Players Association show more respect for each other, than embarking on this type of behaviour.”
Former North Melbourne champion Wayne Carey weighed in on the matter as well, saying the nature of the Saints' sledges were very wrong.
“If it is personal, it is wrong. It is as simple as that,” Carey said on Triple M.
“If Murph has taken it that way, then it is wrong. It is all about how someone takes something. If you’re attacking someone, especially if it is a family member then that is really, really wrong.”