The Garfield Hotel in Gippsland has staunchly defended Richmond's season break-up party as vision emerged on Monday.
The Tigers were seen celebrating the completion of the 2026 campaign at the pub, and have been accused of mocking the Sydney Swans scandal last week.
Several players were spotted shirtless, appearing to whip and smack each other on the backside.
"We hosted the Richmond Football Club at our venue (Monday), and we could not speak more highly of the way they conducted themselves," the statement read.
"For such a young group, they were extremely respectful and a fun group of boys to deal with.
EXCLUSIVE: Richmond footy players were filmed engaging in wild behaviour during Mad Monday celebrations in Garfield, a small country town south-east of Melbourne. The footage shows shirtless players whipping each other while drinking alcohol, with one player pulling down his… pic.twitter.com/zB08ySxFzd
— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) August 24, 2026
"They enjoyed a few quiet beers to unwind after a long season, and we see nothing wrong with that. They had booked out the venue for the afternoon, so they were the only patrons on site. They enjoyed their afternoon and moved on.
"In our view, this has been blown out of proportion. Two members of the media were waiting on their arrival (Monday) morning and remained on site filming in the hope of capturing a misstep, which we consider disappointing."
