Richmond's Dylan Grimes hits out at 'unfair' staging labelBy Marc Churches
Nine's WWOS
27 September 2020Richmond defender Dylan Grimes says he's been "unfairly" targeted by accusations of staging following multiple incidents in season 2020.
Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes earlier this month labelled Grimes a "serial stager" and urged umpires to stop awarding soft free kicks to the defender.
Grimes was most notably involved in a staging controversy during Richmond's Round 13 win over Essendon and was fined by the AFL for the offence before having the sanction overturned at the Tribunal.
Responding to the criticism, Grimes said he would hate to be known as someone who staged for free kicks while declaring he's been "unfairly judged" following the incident with Essendon.
Dylan Grimes believes that he has been unfaily labelled as a 'serial stager' due to one isolated incident (Getty)
"No player, I don't think, wants to be known for staging throughout their career," Grimes told reporters ahead of Richmond's finals campaign.
"In that particular incident, I felt I was unfairly judged for that.
"Even though I wasn't found guilty, it's definitely something I will be mindful of to not deliberately try and focus on doing."
Grimes shortly after the Essendon incident revealed he had received death threats on social media which led to Victoria Police stepping in and arresting two men.
"I never felt like the safety of my family had been questioned before or at risk before, so that was certainly something that was new for me," he said.
"I'm so thankful for the club and Victoria Police for the way handled things and made my family feel safe."
https://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/richmonds-dylan-grimes-hits-out-at-unfair-staging-label/21096983-0667-467c-9b4e-564482bc0b26
