LUKE McDonald called Essendon’s Conor McKenna to apologize for his COVID-19 sled on Saturday night. North Melbourne coach Rhyce Shaw condemned his player’s neck as “not necessary”.
Pretending to cover his face like a mask toward McKenna during a quarterly clash at Metricon Stadium, McDonald appeared to be mocking the Irish defender for his positive COVID-19 test result last month.
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McKenna, who played his first senior game of the season, was the first AFL player to test positive for the virus in late June before posting a series of negative results in the days that followed.
The mockery was criticized after the 13-point defeat by North Melbourne. Shaw revealed that McDonald had realized his behavior was wrong and called McKenna to apologize on Sunday morning.
“We took care of it internally … Luke called Conor,” said Shaw.
“We didn’t think that was necessary. It looks bad and given all the things going on around the world right now, and especially in Melbourne, we just don’t accept that kind of behavior.
“Luke apologized for this and understands what it looks like.”
Shaw said the 25-year-old took the initiative to call McKenna the next day after realizing the extent of his mistake.
“He is disappointed with his own actions,” said Shaw.
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“We had a really good conversation about it. We addressed it as soon as we felt it was the right time. He did it the next morning and we got it to bed pretty quickly.
“Conor was really good at it and respected Luke’s call.”
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