AFL legend Matt Pavlich has taken “hypocritical” West Coast to task after seven players were punished for attending a nightclub.
The Eagles on Monday announced seven players had been fined $5000 – with half that amount suspended – for breaching team protocols by attending a Perth party spot on April 30.
The club is in a horror form slump and this incident came a day after the Eagles lost to Richmond by 109 points. West Coast has been plagued by COVID-19 as well as injuries this season.
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Pavlich believes the penalties handed down by trhe club are too harsh.
“I think it is (an overreaction),” Pavlich said.
“Yes, the Eagles have a long injury list at the moment, and given COVID is so rampant throughout WA, going to a nightclub wasn’t the smartest move from these players.
“But the Eagles have hung these players out to dry so the hierarchy can save face.
“It was an eight-day break between games, and players should be allowed to unwind from the pressures of a high-performance sport.”
Pavlich then went further in his criticism, referencing West Coast’s infamous party culture that was rife almost two decades ago.
The Eagles were highly successful, losing the 2005 grand final then winning the premiership in 2006, and boasted a star-studded team centred on gun midfielder Ben Cousins.
But that era at the club is looked back on in a negative light, given the problems Cousins and some of his teammates have experienced in the years since.
“This is hypocritical from West Coast. Imagine if they took attending nightspots so seriously back in the mid-2000s… perhaps when they were winning it was easy to turn a blind eye to their off-field behaviour,” Pavlich said.
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