An AFL coach berating a journalist for revealing a newsworthy development is the height of hypocrisy.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It is the equivalent of an elected politician turning on a voter for daring to raise an issue about their constituency.
The analogy is apt for, like voters to politicians, journalists are necessary for AFL coaches to retain their well-paid status, and indeed relevance.
It is a widely used statistic that there are more journalists covering the AFL than the Australian Parliament. This is because the majority of Australians are considerably more interested in what's happening with Dustin Martin than they are Scott Morrison.
And the market has an almost insatiable appetite for their stories.
The AFL media department is a big operation. On a daily basis it churns out multitude story suggestions to that army of reporters. But it would be a stale and tedious existence for footy fans if these were the only stories they heard.
In the past week alone, for example, the AFL has advised that the Marvel Stadium car park had sold out ahead of the St Kilda versus Collingwood match; the live pre-game entertainment at Adelaide Oval on Sunday would be Killing Heidi; and the popular Macca's Kick 2 Kick program would be returning for the 2022 Toyota AFL Premiership Season (spot the subtle sponsorship plugs).
Then on Thursday, Essendon announced that they would make "a major club announcement" the following day.
Given the club's unfortunate recent history with supplements and the like, this was surely a 'hold the back (or even front) page' scenario.
The following day came the bombshell announcement that Essendon Football Club was pleased to announce Toyota Material Handling Australia as a co-major partner of its AFLW program over the next four years.
Don't mock. The signing would see the Toyota Forklifts brand appear on the front of the Bombers' guernseys for their historic first season in the national women's competition.
And for more than 50 years, TMHA has been at the forefront of the Australian materials handling market and a pioneer in making forklifts more productive, safer and cost-effective.
What AFL diehard would not want to know that?
And of course there was the Western Bulldogs' stage-managed damage-limitation exercise in the wake of head coach Luke Beveridge's extraordinary attack on Tom Morris, helpfully accompanied by a video of the apology to assist Morris and his colleagues in the broadcast media.
Another bizarre branch of Bevo's rant was that he accused the Fox Footy senior reporter of being a Melbourne supporter.
It would be reasonably expected that every member of the press pack had grown up with an allegiance to a particular club. The same could be said for coaches, and indeed players. This need not be hidden like an embarrassing family secret. Unless the club in question is Gold Coast, obviously.
You're an embarrassment to what you do, mate. You're an embarrassment.
- Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge to Fox Footy reporter Tom Morris
All those reporters, coaches and players would be expected to be professional enough as adults not to let that allegiance influence their judgement.
Do not forget that in recent times Collingwood and North Melbourne games have been commentated on by those clubs' presidents. Surely that is a far more serious potential conflict of interest.
It would be hugely controversial to suggest that a particular player had performed poorly because they were playing against the club they grew up barracking for. And yet that appears to be what Beveridge was suggesting of Morris.
Subsequent distasteful developments have revealed that maybe Tom Morris is not an ideal poster boy for journalistic ethics and integrity.
But the point remains relevant.
Morris had correctly reported in the build-up to the game that Lachie Hunter would not be selected for the season-opening game against Melbourne.
Morris was revealing to his audience relevant and newsworthy team information that turned out to be accurate. Hunter was not selected.
Rather than waiting for the teams' official naming or regurgitating provided quotes of how "TMHA supports the growth of women's sport and inclusiveness within society", Morris was using reliable sources to do his job for the benefit of his viewers.
"You're an embarrassment to what you do, mate. You're an embarrassment," Beveridge told Morris.
The same could be said of the 2016 premiership-winning coach.
If Beveridge wanted to attack somebody for that story emerging, he should seek out the member of his staff who leaked it.