Speaking on SEN Breakfast, former AFL captains Garry Lyon and Tim Watson outlined why they liked the comments from Hartlett, which is likely to set the tone for a brutal battle.
“I don’t know if it was as measured as that (Port planning to target Lynch),” he said.
“When you talk in team meetings for two weeks as they have, things seep into your subconscious and you then go and do you media and some of the messaging comes out.
“To me, that says we’re are going after him’. Not going after him, but we will bait him and try and get him sucked in. He’s made his bed Tommy Lynch, we’ll see if he can lie in it tonight.”
Watson suggested it would lead to a number of Port Adelaide players attempting to bait Lynch into an indiscretion.
“Bump him, say something to him. Have a crack at him, see if you can’t get under his skin,” he said.
“What he has shown us to this point, he does lose it. He does allow people to get under his skin and he does transgress from time to time and he is going to have to live with that and he’s going to have to try and contain the fact.”
Lyon believed the Power had thrown the “first little psychological one” as the minor premiers aim to defeat a red-hot Tigers team.
“What Hamish Hartlett is saying, he’s shown he can’t contain himself and the line is there and a little bit of encouragement, he can tip over. That is some byplay tonight that I am going to watch closely,” he explained.
“Who is the bloke who is going to walk up to him and say ‘Tom, you make one more mistake win or lose, you are not playing next week. You’re going to miss a Grand Final, you’re on 800,000, you’re going to cost the club. You’re that close to being suspended Tom, don’t you dare go over’. All that sort of stuff.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/he-gets-caught-up-in-the-emotions-port-star-fires-barb-towards-undisciplined-tiger/news-story/18dbe1c5d4b0c313bba64fff6c737e6c
