Richmond players ‘embarrassed’ after viral Mad Monday antics

Richmond players have expressed their “embarrassment” after a host of Tigers were filmed during their Mad Monday celebrations.

The Tigers headed to the Garfield Hotel, about 80km south east of Melbourne, to celebrate Mad Monday after finishing their AFL season with a defeat to Geelong on Saturday.

Players were filmed topless with drinks in hand while appearing to whip each other.

“Richmond is aware of a video circulating from a player end of season gathering,” the club said in a statement.

“The club has spoken to the players who have expressed their embarrassment over their behaviour.

“The players are adamant they were in no way referencing or making light of recent matters.”

Earlier on Tuesday, the Garfield Hotel released a statement saying Richmond players booked out the entire venue and were nothing but respectful during their time at the pub.

“We hosted the Richmond Football Club at our venue today, and we could not speak more highly of the way they conducted themselves,” the statement reads.

“For such a young group, they were extremely respectful and a fun group of boys to deal with.

“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 this morning and remained on site filming in the hope of capturing a misstep, which we consider disappointing.”

Channel 7 expert Kane Cornes called the players’ behaviour “embarrassing”.

“I’ve only just seen this, but just embarrassing. Firstly, what are you celebrating? It’s a team that’s finished 17th for the second season in a row,” he said on 7NEWS.