Find out what’s being said about the club in the major daily newspapers on Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Herald Sun

McGinnity’s disgusting mum slurs
By Jay Clark and Jon Ralph

THE AFL's latest vilification case exploded after West Coast's Patrick McGinnity threatened to rape the mother of Melbourne forward Ricky Petterd.  The Herald Sun has been told McGinnity used the "disgusting" phrase twice in a bitter halftime exchange at Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Petterd spoke yesterday of his shock at the outburst, which has cost McGinnity a one-match ban and $2500 fine. McGinnity will be forced to have counselling on the AFL's respect and responsibility policies. AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said the comments were "totally disgusting". McGinnity, 22, told West Coast, which investigated the case and imposed the sanctions, that Petterd had made threats to travel to Perth and "kill" him. McGinnity told the club he had responded with the comments about Petterd's mother. A Melbourne spokesman denied knowledge of any threat to harm made by the Demon.

The Age

Eagle out over rape sledge
By Samantha Lane

PATRICK McGinnity said he would ''rape'' the mother of Melbourne footballer Ricky Petterd in an on-field sledge, which led to the Eagle being suspended and fined in an unprecedented use of the AFL's respect and responsibility policy. The Age last night confirmed the rape taunt that led experienced umpire Stephen McBurney to trigger an AFL investigation following Sunday's match at Etihad Stadium, and saw McGinnity confess to his abusive words. Though the West Coast midfielder was suspended for a match and fined $2500 yesterday, his manager, ex-footballer David Sierakowski, accused Petterd of being thin-skinned. The AFL, meanwhile, applauded Petterd - disgusted by what he heard in a half-time scuffle - for being immediately willing to confirm the culprit to umpires. ''We make no apologies for our stance about respectful behaviour towards women,'' AFL football operations boss Adrian Anderson told The Age last night. ''If people stop to reflect on that sort of thing being said about their mother or their sister then I would hope that they would agree. ''There's no way that Ricky Petterd should be embarrassed, or in any way portrayed as the villain in this. He recognised, as any reasonable player should, that it was completely inappropriate. And if anything he should be praised rather than criticised for bringing to the attention of the umpire something that was clearly wrong.''

The Australian

McGinnity made to pay for mum spray
By The Australian

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou believes a "disgusting" taunt about a player's mother will be the last of its kind, thanks to the suspension of West Coast offender Patrick McGinnity.  McGinnity has been banned by the Eagles for Sunday's clash with Essendon and fined $2500 for derogatory on-field remarks about the mother of Melbourne's Ricky Petterd. AFL chief executive Demetriou said the comments were "totally disgusting" but, like racial vilification, might have been let slide in past eras. "They might have said it 20 or 30 years ago, they might have said it when I played," Demetriou said. "But I tell you, after you've been educating players for a number of years on many, many issues, you don't (normally) hear those sorts of things on the football field." Demetriou was confident such comments would not be heard again. "I'm pretty sure that, given the sanction, you wouldn't expect any other player to use that language."