Lachie Neale and Abbey Holmes have found themselves at the centre of a storm in a tea cup after a post-game kiss.
The Brisbane Lions star and Channel 7 presenter embraced after the Lions’ win over the Bulldogs in Round 13 earlier this month.
While the kiss didn’t attract any attention at the time, it has now been brought up for public debate with suggestions the act was “inappropriate”.
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Holmes, a former AFLW star with the Adelaide Crows, interviewed Neale after the Friday night game before their chat ended with both of them leaning in for a peck on the cheek.
The TV audience saw the embrace, which included Holmes putting her hand around Neale’s waist.
The pair are friends off the field and Holmes has previously written messages on posts Neale has shared on Instagram.
Despite this, the seemingly innocent exchange appears to have rubbed some commentators the wrong way.
It’s why it was a hot topic of conversation on 3AW radio on Saturday with AFL icon Leigh Matthews addressing the drama.
Matthews, widely regarded as the greatest player the sport has known, now sits on the Lions’ board of directors and famously coached the club to three premierships.
Matthews said: “You assume they must know each other very well. Because normally you only give a kiss on the cheek to someone you know quite well, otherwise you shake their hands.
“I would shake the hands of a woman I don’t know very well. The kiss on the cheek is normally for someone you know very well. I don’t know how well they know each other. I assume they know each other very well, otherwise it’s a highly unusual thing which is why we’re talking about it.”
He went on to say: “It is a first. I’ve never seen it before. Have you ever seen it? That’s why we’re talking about it. It’s quite an unusual one.”
Veteran football journalist Caroline Wilson was the first person on the show to bring the subject up and said she “had no issue with it”.
“Why, why, why do you think Lachie Neale kissed Abbey Holmes last Friday night after the game, after the Bulldogs game,” she asked.
“Is it the same if he’d have shook hands with (Channel 7’s) Cameron Ling?
“I saw it and had no issue with it at the time. It was just a peck on the cheek. Did you have an issue with it? And why do you think he did it?”
She went on to say: “Clearly, Abbey has a good relationship with the players. She’s worked on it. She’s been a player herself.
“Lachie had just given an unbelievable performance. It was a good win. He was up and about. He obviously likes her. I didn’t think there was anything inappropriate about it.”
The fact that the moment is being discussed in public has been enough for some fans to be up in arms.
In a post viewed by 90,000, one footy fan wrote: “Are we that soft as a nation that we even find this offensive?
“Maybe they’re friends outside footy. Geez whoever wrote this would hate to be in Europe lol It seemed a simple kiss on TV after the game, but it crossed a boundary.”
— ralph horowitz (@rtralphy) June 15, 2024Get in the car and 3AW is on and - you couldnât make this up - theyâre debating whether it was OK that Lachie Neale gave Abbey Holmes a peck on the cheek after a post game interview
Caroline Wilson asked Tim Lane how he felt about it
Excuse me a minute⦠pic.twitter.com/LeAQuixH4i
The pair at the centre of the chatter clearly had no issues — and it was Holmes that interviewed Neale at half time of the Lions’ win over St Kilda on Friday night.
However, their actions have called into question by some outspoken figures.
Social commentator Kate Halfpenny wrote in a provocative column for The Age: “When things wrapped up, there was a micro-second of hesitation from the dual Brownlow medallist.
“Neale leaned into Holmes. She reacted by snaking her arm around his waist. He returned the favour. She leaned in too, slightly, and they kissed each other on the cheek.
“The interaction was fast and not ick, but it was weird enough for my husband and I to say, “wait, what?”
“This was rare, TV talent kissing or being kissed as a sign-off. You have to go back to Bec Judd swerving from Tony Jones’ attempted smooch in 2016 after her last news bulletin.”
She questioned if the kiss was OK, even if Neale and Holmes are close friends.
“Still, even if they’re besties 4 eva, when they’re both at work is it a good look to be saying hasta manana with a kiss? For mine, it was too familiar,” she wrote.
“Place and time, people. You’re drawing a wage from this chat so keep it classy, San Diego.
“Intrigued, I watched the kiss again a couple of times. Neither party seemed uncomfortable. “The incident hasn’t made waves in the media or on socials. But at a time when former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales is facing a sexual assault trial for his creepy unsolicited kiss on World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso, I think it’s worth asking the kiss question.”
She finished by writing: “Even if Holmes gave the kiss no second thought, networks and AFL clubs should give their troops a half-time speech: kissing on air is out of bounds. It’s 2024, not a 1970s Christmas party with a handsy boss handing out Brandivinos and murmuring your Prince Matchabelli smells great.”
