UPDATE: Turns out it was a watch. A specially-made black and gold watch made by a watchmaker who wanted Jayden Short to promote his business by wearing it during post-game celebrations. Which, honestly, is even weirder and just raises more questions.
So there ya go.
Original story below.
At the tail end of a weird AFL season contained within an even weirder year, it’s to be expected that post-Grand Final celebrations for Richmond would be a little bit out of the norm; what with the game being in Brisbane and all. But even still, this is ah… certainly a first.
Footage from the live broadcast of Saturday’s Grand Final appears to show a Richmond player, mid-lap of honour, accepting a very cheeky bag of something from a rather generous fan.
The incident occurred during the Tigers’ post-game celebrations, in the background of an otherwise nondescript Channel Seven interview with Jack Riewoldt.
Richmond defender Jayden Short, who finished runner-up in Norm Smith Medal voting, is seen approaching the fence and talking to an unidentified man. The footage quite clearly shows the man handing a tiny bag to Short, who then tucks it away in his sock and continues on his merry way.
https://twitter.com/jpp1811/status/1320266585961951232
Now, of course, there’s no real suggestion at this stage that this is anything untoward. It could be perfectly normal! An ordinary thing! Who among us has not been handed a completely legal substance in a tiny bag by a random stranger before.
Regardless, Richmond celebrations have been on-going since Saturday night, following the club’s barnstorming 31-point win over Geelong to secure their third AFL Premiership in four years.
Riewoldt, not one to shy away from the post-Grand Final spotlight, even managed to drop a sneaky version of the Dreams challenge. Except instead of delicious Cran-Raspberry juice straight from the carton, it was (probably) booze straight of the Premiership Cup. Gotta hand it to him, that’s not a bad effort.
All this said, it’s hard to see anything topping Dustin Martin‘s efforts after last year’s Grand Final, which saw him go on such a monumentally big one that his car remained parked underneath the MCG for at least 14 days following the game. And then he casually showed up in the Maldives in Serena Williams‘ Instagram stories somehow.
Simpler times, a different world.
Still, a tiny bag and the boundless possibilities that Brisbane and the Gold Coast have to offer? This year’s brouhaha is certainly off to a flying start.
