How did Daria Gavrilova get her hands on Richmond’s premiership trophy?March 16, 2018
by Alex Blair
Source: news.com.auTHE AFL premiership trophy often finds itself in weird and wonderful places after each year’s grand final as the victor parades the competiton’s holy grail to fans around the country.
The Richmond Tigers had extra reason to show off their silverware after snagging a monumental grand final victory over favourites the Adelaide Crows last September.
The cup travelled to everywhere between Darwin, Adelaide and Melbourne to give stoic fans a taste of success after a 37-year premiership drought. But somehow throughout the two-month tour, the trophy found itself in the hands of an Aussie tennis star.
World No. 26 Daria Gavrilova was reportedly in a bit of hot water with the Tigers following the Melbourne club’s premiership triumph.
The Aussie firebrand’s cheeky personality and on-court aggression have made her a crowd favourite, but she may have lost a few supporters in Richmond after “disrespecting” their chalice on social media.
Football journalist Damian Barrett revealed how the bizarre situation played out on last night’s edition of The AFL Footy Show.
“The cup they so famously won has been to many and varied places in the many months after that famous win, including finding itself in the possession of Daria Gavrilova,” Barrett said.
“She managed to have the cup for some period of time late last year and while she had it, she chose to use it in a way which, it’s probably fair to say, angered the Richmond football players.
“She used it, for what we’ll describe as ‘household chores’ on this particular occasion.”
Richmond players were reportedly furious at the 24-year-old.
“They were not happy,” Barrett said. “They saw that photo in a very different lens to the one which Gavrilova had taken the photo, but she very innocently and playfully did what she did with the cup.”
This was a very different photo scandal to the one which landed Tiger Nathan Broad in hot water when he distributed a photograph of a topless woman wearing a premiership medal, and it stunned Footy Show hosts Eddie McGuire and Sam Newman as they pestered Barrett for more details.
“She used (the cup) around the house for some laundry, maybe some washing,” Barrett said. “I’m just relaying what the players said. They demanded the photo be taken off the airwaves and destroyed.”
A friend of Gavrilova working at the Melbourne club had to step in to “smooth things over” after the Tigers reportedly scolded her for her apology.
“They sought an apology, and it was given, but in their eyes it was a tad flippant,” Barrett said. “That then impacted on Kate Sheahan, a friend of Gavrilova’s who’s also an employee of the Tigers. Senior players had to speak to Sheahan to thrash this matter out.
“It’s been smoothed over but there was some serious tension over what the Richmond players described as “disrespecting the premiership cup”.
In typical blunt fashion, Newman piped up and got down to the dirty details.
“She didn’t ablute in it did she,” he said to howling laughter. “(Did she put) soiled underwear in it?”
Barrett shook off the curveball and simply said the act was “harmless in Gavrilova’s eyes” but angered the club.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/richmonds-new-grand-final-photo-problem-this-time-with-tennis-ace-daria-gavrilova/news-story/562448095e8c8a2bae40a6f4a5fe6f51
