Brisbane and Hawthorn fought out one of the all-time great AFL finals, but when the siren sounded the biggest noise in the MCG was the booing.
Hawks players James Sicily, Tom Barrass and Jack Ginnivan had angry words with the umpires, who then had bottles thrown at them from Hawks fans as they left the stadium on Saturday night.
Ruckman Lloyd Meek swore while speaking to reporters in the rooms. Coach Sam Mitchell impressively kept his emotions in check throughout a fraught post-game media conference, where he spoke of mourning.
“This feeling is the pits,” Mitchell said.
At the heart of Hawthorn’s collective rage was the holding-the-ball free paid against Jarman Impey in the last minute of the match. It was the most controversial of a number of contentious umpiring calls during the game.
Brisbane’s Hugh McCluggage then kicked the match-winning goal – the ninth lead-change of the game and the fourth in the last few frenetic minutes.
Meek was near Impey when the free was paid. “It’s heartbreaking ... excuse the profanity, you can edit that one out,” Meek said. “We pour our heart and soul into this.
“I was standing right next to him – I will be replaying that one for a while.
“I just f...