Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley has sparked plenty of backlash for taunting Hawthorn players immediately after his side's semi-final win at Adelaide Oval.
Hawks captain James Sicily was furious, firing back at Hinkley, with teammate Jarman Impey having the unenviable task of stopping the situation from escalating.
The AFL is certain to look at the incident, which took much of the focus away from a gutsy 11.9 (75) to 11.6 (72) finals win by Port..
Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley came under fire for taunting a defeated opponent. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)
The circuit breaker was the two teams applauding as Sicily helped chair off Hawks great Luke Breust following his 300th game.
Hinkley later explained he and Port had been riled during the week by Hawks forward Jack Ginnivan, who had posted on social media "see u in 14 days" to Sydney ruckman Brodie Grundy.
Instead, it is Port who will meet the Swans next Friday night in a preliminary final.
Hinkley's post-game comments were directed at Ginnivan, as Port players laughed along, leaving Sicily to fire back at the Port coach.
Not surprisingly, former Hawthorn players Luke Hodge, Jordan Lewis and Shaun Burgoyne led the criticism of Hinkley in their roles as TV commentators.
"It was embarrassing, from my point of view. How he did it and where he did it, you understand Luke Breust was coming off, there was going to be a guard of honour,' Lewis said on Fox Footy.
Hodge was similarly unimpressed, saying on Channel Seven: "You use it as motivation to build the blokes up to say if he gets near the ball, you go and get him.
"But, as soon as you win and the siren goes, the game is over. He is a 60-year-old man. Act your age. You don't go and start stuff like that."
Burgoyne, also speaking on Seven, said Hinkley needed to be gracious in victory and added the Port players laughing was not a good look.
"Leave it for social media ... Luke Breust is being celebrated for his 300th game, show him the respect he deserves as well," said Burgoyne, who played for Port before going to the Hawks.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell was proud of Sicily for backing Ginnivan.
Asked if he would speak with Hinkley, Mitchell replied "absolutely not".
But former Brisbane captain Jonathan Brown had no sympathy for Hawthorn, saying on Fox Footy "the karma bus got them" in regards to Ginnivan's social media post.
Hawks' Jack Ginnivan became the target of Hinkley's taunts. (Matt Turner/AAP PHOTOS)
Hinkley, though, quickly regretted his comments, explaining to Seven in the rooms that he had told Ginnivan he wasn't going anywhere.
"I probably shouldn't have done it, I should apologise to the boys ... but the reality was, you throw something our way, we're going to throw something back eventually," Hinkley said.
He then opened his post-game media conference by saying he regretted the incident.
"It just goes to show that everyone can get better. I am trying to still get better.," Hinkley said.
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