AFL fans have taken aim at Hawthorn captain Ben Stratton for a decidedly immature tactic during their loss to Essendon on Friday night.
The Hawks defender, notorious for getting under the skin of his opponents, spent the evening pinching his opponent Orazio Fantasia.
A close-up of Fantasia’s left arm showed Stratton’s childish tactics had left several welts on his upper arm.
Stratton is certain to come under match review scrutiny, with a misconduct fine one option.
Fremantle tagger Ryan Crowley was fined $1200 six years ago for pinching North Melbourne great Brent Harvey.
“I have a couple of bruises on the arm – Stratts loves to pinch and he’s a really good defender, so to come back and play on him, I knew I was in for a tough night,” Fantasia told Channel 7.
“You can’t do anything. He’s a really good defender, he has all the tricks in the book.
“Every time I play on him, I know it’s a tough one.”
Fantasia’s teammate Cale Hooker was also unimpressed with the tactic.
“It comes as a surprise, usually the good players don’t have to get involved in that stuff and Ben Stratton is a pretty good player,” Hooker told 3AW.
Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson said he would speak to Stratton before commenting.
“I haven’t seen anything, so I will have a chat to him either Saturday or Sunday and see what’s occurred there,” Clarkson said.
“I wouldn’t like to comment until I speak to Stratts – once I speak to Stratts I will have a better feel for what my attitude is to it.”
It’s not the first time this season Stratton has spent the evening pinching his direct opponent.
Brisbane’s Charlie Cameron was frustrated by the move back in round 11, and he noted the incident on Friday night.
Stratton’s former premiership teammate Jordan Lewis condemned the tactic after it was used on Cameron.
“It annoys the hell out of me,” Lewis told Fox Footy.
“It’s not within the spirit of the game but it’s within the rules of the game, so that’s the thing that you can’t really police.
“It’s been part of Ben Stratton’s game for a good decade now and he’s done really well.
“It’s just annoying, really annoying.”
After Stratton’s pinching and Fantasia’s bruises were caught by Channel 7’s cameras, fans took a dim view of the Hawks skipper.
