- Hamish McLachlan’s ‘banter’ didn’t resonate with some footy fans
- Line of questioning with Patrick Cripps centred around the number two
- Brownlow Medal host McLachlan was labelled ‘smug’ and awkward’
Footy fans have slammed Channel Seven’s Hamish McLachlan after the Brownlow Medal host asked 2024 winner Patrick Cripps a series of bizarre questions that all had the same answer.
The Channel Seven identity had a clear theme in mind on Monday night – the number two – and while Carlton star Cripps politely played along, the interview left some AFL supporters cringing.
McLachlan’s attempt at humour was labelled by one fan ‘a combination of cringe, awkwardness and smugness all rolled into one’.
A second posted on X: ‘Hamish McLachlan should be fired out of a cannon.’
Another weighed in with: ‘Hamish’s interview style isn’t to ask questions….but to say a statement and then make the interviewee scramble for an answer.’
At Crown Palladium in Melbourne, Cripps won his second Brownlow Medal, polling a record 45 votes to claim the coveted prize convincingly.
The 29-year-old also won the game’s most prestigious individual honour – voted exclusively by AFL umpires – in 2022.
McLachlan’s questions included, ‘How many years since you won your first Brownlow?’, ‘Last Carlton Brownlow medallist before you was Juddy [Chris Judd], how many Brownlows did he win?, ‘How many decades since he [Judd] won his first?’ and, ‘How many blokes called Patrick have won the Brownlow?’
While the answers to those were all ‘two’, the host stitched Cripps up by eventually asking him how many times Brownlow-winning legend Tony Lockett kicked eight goals, but didn’t earn the maximum three votes.
Cripps once again said two, only to be told the answer is 26.
Footy fans have slammed Hamish McLachlan (right) after the Brownlow Medal host asked 2024 winner Patrick Cripps (left) a series of questions that all had the same answer
Carlton star Patrick Cripps politely played along, but the interview became cringeworthy in the eyes of some supporters (the Blues midfielder is pictured with his wife Monique)
McLachlan’s attempt at humour was savagely labelled by one fan ‘a combination of cringe, awkwardness and smugness all rolled into one’
A second footy fan bluntly posted on X: ‘Hamish McLachlan should be fired out of a cannon’
A third questioned Hamish McLachlan’s interview style as he said the strange questions were designed to make Cripps uncomfortable
Collingwood’s Nick Daicos finished second in the medal count with 38 points, while Port Adelaide’s Zak Butters polled 29 points for third – but amazingly, Cripps was in an unbeatable position with four rounds remaning.
His 45 votes — coming from 17 different games — weres more than three AFL clubs received in total across the course of the entire season.
The Blues star has a constant desire to take his game to a new level which could see the midfielder join footy legends Ian Stewart, Haydn Bunton Sr, Dick Reynolds and Bob Skilton as three-time Brownlow Medal winners.
‘I had to go away and work on my game at the end of last year,’ Cripps said.
‘I felt like there were a few areas I really needed to go to work on. I was shut out of games too many times.’
Elsewhere, Melbourne’ Demons 2021 premiership star Angus Brayshaw, who had to retire in the pre-season due to repeated concussions, produced an emotional toast on behalf of his fellow players who have also hang up their boots.
They included Richmond superstar Dustin Martin and Geelong key forward Tom Hawkins.
Collingwood’s Bobby Hill won mark of the year and in his debut season West Coast midfielder Harley Reid claimed goal of the year.
The Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award was snared by Adelaide ruckman Reilly O’Brien.
