Nothing Wrong: Hotel Defends Tigers Amid Mad Monday Backlash

Fans show support for their team during the 2026 AFL Round 03 match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Richmond Tigers at Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia, on March 28, 2026. Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty ImagesThe Victorian country pub that hosted Richmond’s Mad Monday drinks says the controversy is blown out of proportion.Tigers players were filmed at The Garfield Hotel, 80 kilometres east of Melbourne, appearing to mock Sydney’s sexual assault allegations.Richmond and the Australian Football League (AFL) are yet to comment on the antics of Tiger players—one player was filmed feigning shock when spanked on his rear by a teammate.Another teammate whips a fellow player on the back with a belt in footage captured by news outlets on Aug. 24.“In our view, this has been blown out of proportion,” the hotel said in a statement posted on social media.The hotel said it “could not speak more highly” of how players behaved.“For such a young group, they were extremely respectful and a fun group of boys to deal with,” the statement read.“They enjoyed a few quiet beers to unwind after a long season, and we see nothing wrong with that.“They had booked out the venue for the afternoon, so they were the only patrons on site.“They enjoyed their afternoon and moved on.”The hotel noted media were waiting for the Tigers players “in the hope of capturing a misstep, which we consider disappointing.”Richmond and the AFL have been contacted for comment.But the footage is a fresh concern for the AFL in the wake of five Swans players being banned amid sexual assault allegations.The Swans have suspended Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon for breaching club standards over an incident at a Melbourne hotel eight days ago.The Swans players are under police investigation. No charges have been laid.The Richmond footage emerged hours after AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon made his first public statements regarding the Swans scandal.“I have been asked a lot in recent days, what message football should be sending young people and what we should be saying to our kids,” Dillon said.“For me, the answer is straightforward: it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what you do, whether you’re an AFL footballer—the way we treat women says a lot about who we are as people, as a community and as a game.“Quite simply, respect for women is not negotiable.”Dillon said the actions of the five suspended Swans players had “fallen well short of the standards our game expects and community deserves.”“While there are players involved, we cannot lose sight of the bigger picture. More importantly, there are women who have made a report to police and they should be shown care and respect,” he said.By Steve Larkin in Adelaide