Kanga apology for virus sledge

NORTH Melbourne’s Luke McDonald has called and apologised to Essendon’s Conor McKenna for a coronavirus sledge his Kangaroos coach Rhyce Shaw called “unacceptable”.

McDonald earned the ire of commentators and his coach after taunting McKenna, who had tested positive to coronavirus before being cleared to play, during some push and shove at the end of the first quarter of Saturday night’s clash on the Gold Coast.

Former Bomber Brendon Goddard called the action “stupid”, and the AFL was considering whether to issue the North defender with a please explain after McDonald turned towards McKenna and covered his face.

Shaw said McDonald phoned McKenna on Sunday morning after the matter was addressed internally, and the Bomber accepted the apology.

“It wasn’t necessary, it was a bad look. It’s something I take very seriously, and I won’t stand for it,” Shaw said.

“Considering all the things going on around the world at the moment, especially in Melbourne, we don’t accept that behaviour. He’s disappointed in his own actions, and we had a really good chat about it. We put it to bed pretty quickly. Conor was really good about it and accepted the phone call from Luke.”

Shaw said he wasn’t expecting a penalty from the AFL and his players, and everyone at the club, were intent on holding each other to a higher standard. “That’s one thing I have been really proud of coming here, of our playing group and our coaching group. We are doing things the right way and will continue to do that and strive for high standards and make each other accountable,” he said.

McKenna has spent three periods in quarantine this year after returning to Australia from Ireland, then again after his positive test.

He was given a one-match suspension for breaching the AFL’s COVID-19 protocols before making his playing return on Saturday.

Essendon coach John Worsfold told 3AW on Sunday he wasn’t too upset with the taunt.