Footy star Tom Hawkins has light-heartedly accused Collingwood of hitting him with a ‘stitch-up’ after he appeared in a photo of Magpies star Josh Daicos enjoying one of Taylor Swift’s concerts at the MCG.
Daicos was seen cuddling up to his partner Annalise Dalins as they watched the American superstar in the picture on the club’s Instagram, which was captioned ‘Pies go cray cray for Tay Tay’.
However, a closer look revealed Hawkins nursing two cans of Great Northern lager as he sat very close to them during the performance – leading the Geelong great to comment: ‘Stitch up in the background’ with two beer emojis.
Collingwood posted this shot of Daicos and his girlfriend Annalise Dalins enjoying Swift’s MCG concert – with Geelong star Tom Hawkins nursing two beers in the background (pictured to the left of Dallins)
The Cats great saw the lighter side of the pic and good-naturedly accused the Magpies of stitching him up in a comment on the club’s Instagram post (pictured)
Footy fans didn’t miss Hawkins in the background and were quick to draw attention to the 35-year-old Cats star.
‘Big Tomahawk lurking,’ one wrote.
Other comments included, ‘How many beers is Hawkins on?’, ‘Not impressed with the Tom Hawkins photo bomb’ and ‘a double whammy with the Hawkins in the background hilarious’.
A few fans also joked that Hawkins was ‘double parked’, a slang term meaning he was nursing two beers because he was drinking slowly.
Swift’s concerts have left another Magpies star red-faced – and left the AFL with a big headache as the start of the season looms.
On Monday, 211cm-tall Collingwood ruckman Mason Cox asked for help finding Taylor Swift fans who couldn’t see the performance because he sat in front of them.
A few fans were quick to joke about Hawkins (pictured playing for Geelong in 2023)
Swift’s three MCG concerts left the AFL with a lot of work to do ahead of the ground’s first game of the season on March 14
‘HELP NEEDED!!!! I want to find the people that sat directly behind me [at the concert] to give them tickets to an AFL game. If you know them please let me know,’ wrote Cox on Instagram.
The AFL is now carrying out a huge repair job as it tries to get the surface of the MCG ready for the ground’s first clash of the season when Carlton take on Richmond on March 14.
Swift played three gigs at the 100,000-seat stadium last week, with footage showing the detrimental impact it has had on the turf.
However, MCG bosses are well-equipped to deal with big resurfacing jobs – having relaid the turf just 13 days out from the start of the 2023 season after back-to-back Ed Sheeran concerts.
‘With just under four weeks until the first AFL game of season 2024, our turf team have been preparing for the arena’s renovation for the last 18 months,’ Melbourne Cricket Club boss Stuart Fox said.
Collingwood’s 211cm ruckman Mason Cox (pictured at one of Swift’s MCG concerts, second from right) asked for help contacting fans after he ruined their view with his huge frame
Geelong great turned breakfast radio announcer Cameron Ling (pictured) called Swift fans ‘the new biggest flogs in the world’ after some bought multiple tickets to her Melbourne shows
‘Although we need to replace two-thirds of the turf, the absence of events scheduled after the three Taylor Swift concerts provides us with a more generous window for turnaround time.’
Geelong great Cameron Ling caused a stir on Monday when he lashed out at Swift fans for buying tickets to multiple shows and bragging about it online.
‘I have one observation from the Taylor Swift concerts, and it’s the new biggest flogs in the world. It’s those people that went to more than one Taylor Swift concert,’ Ling said on his breakfast radio show on Monday.
‘Now, I’m talking about the person who went to more than one concert and decided to flaunt it out there and put it everywhere. There were [so many] who were desperate to get a ticket.’