Tensions boiled over inside the ABC commentary box on Friday night during the Collingwood and Carlton clash at the MCG.
Former Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse appears behind the microphone in the ABCs coverage alongside Geelong premiership captain Cameron Ling.
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But as the Friday night pre-game coverage rolled on, Malthouse downed his headset and walked out of the stadium before a guest came on air.
The guest in question was Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly.
The relationship between Malthouse and Kelly soured back in 2011 when Collingwood made their high-profile coaching switch.
Kelly at the time was the manager of Nathan Buckley who took over the coaching role from Malthouse.
The 69-year-old simply refused to sit alongside the man who played a role in ending his coaching tenure and speaking as if all things were rosy.
With Malthouse out of the room, Kelly would have been expecting a less hostile reception from the ABC crew.
What unfolded was a pure furnace as the Collingwood CEO was peppered by Kelli Underwood regarding the current state of the AFLW.
“What on earth is happening with the women’s competition at the moment, it feels like it has plateaued,” Underwood asked.
Kelly replied by saying it was a “rabbit hole” she didn’t want to go down.
“Let’s not compare the women’s game to the mens game,” Kelly said.
“The fun our girls have every training, the music and all the stuff each day that happens is amazing, the focus is there.
“But we have to go on the journey, we can’t just squeeze the lemon and start handing out cash that we haven’t got as a whole competition.”
Underwood then queried the AFL’s commitment to the women’s game, pointing out that cricket and soccer were benefiting from investing heavily in their sports.
Kelly’s responses drew the ire of veteran journalist Caroline Wilson who said the Collingwood CEO was “boorish and, frankly, condescending”.
“Craig Kelly is a mover and a shaker. A longtime AFL business partner who doesn’t believe in the mens and women’s collective CBA,” Wilson said on Footy Classified.
“And who incidentally played a key role in the appointment of Nicole Livingstone to the top AFLW job.
“But on Friday night he protested too much. In the face of genuine big picture questioning about AFLW strategy he was boorish and, frankly, condescending. It bordered on a rant.
“And frankly to cry poor on a night when Collingwood was trumpeting its greatness, was just unbelievable.
“But even worse was Kelly’s response to the elephant in the Magpies room – the decision to terminate its netball team with little notice which threatened to derail the entire netball competition.
“So Collingwood sacked its netballers to save its footballers, that’s a new one.
“Up until now all the club has done is point the finger at the national netball competition having taken a lot of public money to get them in the first place.
“But still the AFLW players are still there and they’ve got their music and their fun and their elevated coral marketing campaign. Nice one, Craig.”