Essendon has been criticised for chairing captain Zach Merrett off the ground after his 200th match came in an “embarrasing’ 77-point flogging to Geelong.
Despite the contest being billed as one of the matches of the round, Essendon was uncompetitive from the first bounce as the reigning premiers ran riot.
Following the match, Merrett was chaired off by teammates Dyson Heppell and Jake Stringer while his other teammates gave him a guard of honour.
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The gesture did not sit well with Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes.
“Why do we need a guard of honour in terms of the Bombers lining up for him?” he said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“I would’ve just got off the ground straight away. You’ve lost by 77 (points) and you’ve been embarrassed, the game was over halfway through the first quarter.
“That’s embarrassing for Zach Merrett.”
Cornes declared a “pandemic” of send-offs had taken over the AFL, pointing to a similar gesture made to Adelaide’s Rory Sloane for his 250th game and Collingwood and Fremantle players giving veteran umpire Brett Rosebury a guard of honour on Saturday after his 500th game.
”We’re now lining up for umpires,” he said.
“It’s a great effort Brett, you’ve been a terrific umpire, but we are lining up too often.
“Game No.250, what kind of milestone is that? GWS lining up for Rory Sloane in game 250? What is that?
“There is a guard of honour pandemic. Unless you’re Dustin Martin and you retire and it is your last game, line up for a champion like Scott Pendlebury.”
Essendon great Matthew Lloyd, who had been encouraged by the Bombers’ play of late, explained how Geelong’s ownership of the middle of the ground led to its big win.
“You wanted to own the corridor and it was really early in the game that you could see it,” he told the Sunday Footy Show.
“They (Geelong) were squeezing the ground on them and owning the corridor, and suddenly the panic set in with the Bombers.
“They just didn’t give it to them right from the first bounce, and as hard as they (Essendon) tried, it just got worse and they panicked.
“They were just obliterated in every way last night.”
Essendon dropped down to eighth on the ladder after the loss and faces the seventh-placed Western Bulldogs in round 19 in a match which will be pivotal for both clubs’ finals hopes for 2023.
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