OPINION

There was beer, there were shirts off, and there was a belt being used in a way belts generally aren’t intended to be used.

And, inevitably in 2026, there were cameras. The AFL is certainly under the blowtorch right now, and this was never going to escape attention.

Richmond’s Mad Monday celebrations have become the hottest AFL talking point after vision emerged of Tigers players letting their hair down at the Garfield Hotel, about 80 kilometres south-east of Melbourne.

The footage, obtained by 7NEWS, shows shirtless players drinking and mucking around, including a belt being used to whip a teammate on the backside.

Cue the outrage.

AFL commentator Kane Cornes described the scenes as “embarrassing” and “mortifying”. Yet 7NEWS also noted there was no suggestion the players had broken any behavioural rules.

Certainly, the timing couldn’t be worse. But, here’s the question: are we becoming too quick to turn footballers behaving stupidly into something more sinister?

The pub has had its say

The Garfield Hotel certainly thinks so.

The venue said Richmond had booked the entire hotel for the function, meaning there were no other patrons there, and described the players as extremely respectful.

They had a few beers, the hotel said, and left.

It also didn’t hold back on what happened outside, saying two media representatives were waiting when the players arrived and stayed to film them, apparently hoping to catch a misstep.

The hotel’s verdict? The whole thing had been “blown out of proportion”.

That’s where this gets interesting.

Mad Monday has been part of Australian football culture for decades. Bad costumes, beer, practical jokes and teammates generally making idiots of themselves after months of training, playing, travelling and living under a microscope.

Sometimes it’s funny. Plenty of times it’s juvenile. And yep, sometimes players have crossed the line and deserved everything that came their way.

But there was also a time when a bunch of teammates behaving stupidly at a private end-of-season function remained exactly that.

These days, somebody is always watching.

Why this one feels different

There is a reason this particular Mad Monday has landed at a sensitive time.

The AFL is still dealing with the fallout from the much more serious situation involving the Sydney Swans and a Victoria Police investigation into an alleged sexual assault at the team’s Melbourne hotel.

Five Swans players have also been suspended by their club for separate breaches of club standards. No one has been arrested or charged in relation to the police investigation and the players have reportedly denied criminal wrongdoing.

So perhaps Richmond’s players could have read the room a little better.

And if it were established that any of their antics were deliberately mocking the allegations surrounding Sydney, that changes things considerably.

But that’s different from assuming intent from a few seconds of vision.

Surely there’s still a middle ground

Nobody is suggesting AFL players (or rugby players, for that matter) deserve a free pass.

If someone crosses the line, call it out. If behaviour is abusive, degrading or genuinely unacceptable, being on Mad Monday doesn’t excuse it.

But surely there’s still some territory between unacceptable behaviour and a bunch of teammates making idiots of themselves over a few beers.

They were at a privately booked venue. The people running it say they behaved respectfully and there is no suggestion they broke behavioural rules.

Mad Monday has always been a bit stupid.

That’s largely the point.

The harder question in 2026 is whether we can still tell the difference between stupid and seriously wrong.

What do you reckon? Have Mad Monday celebrations had their day, or has the outrage gone too far?