AFL player Jayden Short shows us his ball skills
If you're not familiar with the Australian Football League, it’s the one that looks like rugby but all the players have sleeveless vests on. AFL does for arms what rugby does for thick thighs basically. It’s a sport you can happily watch without really knowing what’s happening and still enjoy it for the bulging biceps alone.
Not so full back
Step forward Jayden Short who’s made headlines around the world this week who, along with fellow team mate Nick Vlaustin on the Richmond Tigers, has had to apologise for ‘putting his finger up a team mate’s rectum’.
So, who was the ‘lucky’ recipient of this unwanted anal intrusion? It was their fellow Tiger Mabior Chol. Not only were they grabbing his butt and giving him the old digit dip, they have been caught on camera groping his junk as well. Chol has said that he had ‘no issue whatsoever’ with the incidents but the pictures tell a different story.
Circle of shame - Short gets a bit handsy
The player is looking pretty miffed and the fact it was all caught on camera meant the lads had to apologise, both of them releasing statements. Vlaustin said ‘It was a stupid action and I’m deeply embarrassed. I’ve apologised to Mabior’ while Short saying ‘It was unacceptable behaviour and a poor example.
The AFL released a statement distancing themselves from the incident which went as follows. "AFL players are professional athletes and set the example for the hundreds of thousands of kids playing football across the country. It is the responsibility of each club and the players themselves to ensure this inappropriate behaviour is not repeated."
St Kilda's Dan Butler - at least it was just a finger and not this
If no-one is complaining then is it just tomfoolery between team mates, used to being naked together in locker rooms and on tour? Anyone who’s played team sport with attest to the fact that groin grabbing and ass slapping is not unusual and is standard homo-erotic practise.
Not what you'd expect from a Butt-ler
It wasn’t the only recent incident however. St Kilda star Dan Butler has also had to apologise for groping fellow AFL player Jade Grisham’s behind after a match last Thursday. Can this be put down to camaraderie however or is there something more sinister at work?
We all know Aussie sporting lads can get boisterous but does today’s climate make even these sort of antics now untenable? Or does it say more about society that the public or governing bodies are getting offended on behalf of players that just see it as a laugh? In neither of these situations did the players who were ‘victims’ make any formal complaints but then again, maybe the End Receiver might not enjoy being on the receiving end.