Should Toby Greene be sanctioned for Tom Papley sledge?

Kieran Francis

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Should Toby Greene be sanctioned for Tom Papley sledge? image

For every half-time player interview you watch, how often is anything interesting said?

Players trot out careful cliches with their focus on getting into the dressing room, not saying anything of note.

That's why Toby Greene's tongue-in-cheek sledge at Tom Papley should be lauded, not criticised.

After a running verbal battle between the pair in the first half of the Sydney derby which saw the Swans lead by 28 points, Greene had the last laugh in multiple ways.

MORE: Toby Greene's vicious Papley sledge propels Giants comeback

When asked by Fox Footy's Ben Dixon at half-time about Papley's celebration in his face after a goal, Greene said: "Yeah, he's looking overweight, we'll see how he goes [in] the second half."

From that moment onwards, the Giants kicked 12.8 to Sydney's 1.2 to win by 44 points and Papley only had three possessions throughout the second half after kicking a goal and having 11 disposals in the first two quarters.

GWS coach Adam Kingsley stated he would be 'disappointed' if Greene faced scrutiny for his comment.

"I wouldn't have thought so. I'd be pretty disappointed if he got fined for ... I mean, he didn't use any language or anything like that, did he?" Kingsley said.

"It's a really important game for both clubs. We know the importance of it and all the players treat it seriously.

"So they're trying to put each other off and they're doing ... all within the rules, of course, but that's just AFL footy, it's part of the game. Winners are grinners, and if you're not, you move on."

In a sport where player and coach interviews are so often sanitised by messaging and political correctness, it is refreshing to see a player bare their personality in the middle of a match.

Over to the AFL to adjudicate whether an offence has been committed.

Kieran Francis

Kieran Francis is a senior editor at The Sporting News based in Melbourne, Australia. He started at Sportal.com.au before being a part of the transition to Sporting News in 2015. Just prior to the 2018 World Cup, he was appointed chief editor of Goal.com in Australia. He has now returned to The Sporting News where his passions lay in football, AFL, poker and cricket - when he is not on holiday.