Essendon great Matthew Lloyd has called on the GWS Giants to stop enabling Toby Greene‘s undisciplined on-field behaviour in the wake of his clash with an umpire.
Greene was handed a three-match ban at the tribunal after deliberately bumping field umpire Matt Stevic in the Giants’ elimination final win over the Sydney Swans.
The 27-year-old could have that ban extended, with AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan indicating his displeasure at the length of the sanction.
Greene’s absence is a massive blow to the Giants as they prepare to take on Geelong in a do-or-die semi-final clash, and Lloyd touched on his own experience to deliver some advice to the two-time All-Australian.
Lloyd recalled the 2001 season where he missed a preliminary final due to a suspension and was forced to apologise to his teammates after the match by legendary Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy.
“‘Play on the edge’ is a lie that people don’t like because that has nothing to do with playing on the edge when you cross those lines,” he told Nine’s Footy Classified.
“I’ll never forget, I got suspended four times in 2001 and the last one was in a final. If I got two weeks, I miss the grand final, if I get one, I miss the prelim.
“I got one [week] for a headbutt on Darren Gaspar, but [Kevin] Sheedy said to me, ‘You’d want to hope we win this game of football, and if we get through it, you’re going to speak straight after the prelim to your teammates and tell them that you’ve let them down and you’re never ever going to put your club in this situation ever again’.
“It got to that point where the club was saying to me, ‘You’ve got to stand up for yourself’, so I started standing up for myself but it got to a point where I was only hurting myself and the team.
“It was that moment where I had to stand in front [of the team] when we won the prelim by four points and I thought, ‘Thank goodness, I haven’t cost my team a prelim’.
“It’s got to that point where they’ve got to say, ‘Toby, enough is enough. You’re being an absolute dill. You’re a good footballer, but you’re hurting us. You’re a distraction in finals time’.”
Former AFL coach Ross Lyon also urged Greene to show “vulnerability” by apologising for his actions.
“We all love Toby, and we understand that you don’t want to back down as the athlete, but you need to show some vulnerability at the right time,” he told Footy Classified.
“Take the Superman cape off and say, ‘I got this wrong and I’ll learn from it’.
“It doesn’t mean you can’t be aggressive and play, but if you don’t show the vulnerability that you probably need to show, in the end they’re going to come after you. So take the advice, Toby.”
If Greene’s three-match ban is upheld, it means he will miss out on a grand final if the Giants are to make it through to the final day of the season.