Veteran AFL reporter Damian Barrett has offered an insight into the fiery Melbourne training session that saw youngster Charlie Spargo pick up an injury.
The small forward got his leg in an awkward position while being tackled during drills on Saturday evening under lights. Medical teams looked at his ankle and pulled him from the session at Mineral Resources Park.
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While Melbourne is confident the 21-year-old will be able to take his place in next Saturday’s AFL grand final, Barrett revealed that there had been other “hearts-in-mouths moments” during the session.
“It was a tackle drill, he was rotated a few times [and] there was genuine concern around it,” he told Nine’s AFL Sunday Footy Show.
“The club has said it was minor, but having said that it certainly did cause some concern for Spargo himself, who sat by himself for some time afterwards.
“Just on the contest itself, there was an exchange of words between Harrison Petty and Michael Hibberd, maybe coming from Petty to Hibberd more than the other way, about a particular drill that didn’t go the way they wanted it to.
“It was on. There were a few hearts-in-mouths moments, not just with the Spargo incident.”
With a longer lead-up to the grand final this year due to the pre-grand final bye weekend, Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes suggested that the team that weathers the media storm best will prevail.
“It’s the strongest group that can deal with distractions [that will win the grand final],” he told the Sunday Footy Show.
“All of a sudden, we’re talking about curfews and we’re talking about [Luke] Beveridge not being happy with footage being released via someone’s phone, then we’re talking about a couple of injuries.
“In the context of a season they’re so minor, but because it’s grand final week everything [increases in] magnitude.”