Julie Bishop has taken the sporting analogy a bit too far, providing an unwanted image of her "captain-coach" Tony Abbott and his "talents" in the coalition change rooms.
Speaking to reporters in Brisbane, the deputy Liberal leader praised her boss as fearless, a uniting force, and the one most responsible for the opposition's likely electoral success on Saturday.
But it was when Ms Bishop described the man with a well-known penchant for Lycra and snug swimwear as the "captain-coach" that everyone present started to squirm - perhaps even Mr Abbott himself.
"He's out on the field playing as hard as the rest of us - he's often the best on ground," she said, before providing Australia with an image that will stick in the mind.
"But it's when the game's over, when we're back in the change rooms that Tony's real talents come to the fore."
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Mr Abbott supported, united and inspired his team, said Ms Bishop, struggling with what appeared to be an end-of-campaign cold.
"He brings out the best in us," she said. "Over the last four years he has been such a tremendous asset. We wouldn't be in the position we are today without Tony Abbott."
Mr Abbott and Ms Bishop later moved their campaign blitz to the Packer Leather factory in the outer Brisbane suburb of Narangba.
The factory, which falls in the Labor-held seat of Petrie, manufactures the leather used in iconic products such as Sherrin footballs and Kookaburra cricket balls.
In an address, Mr Abbott told factory workers he would help the struggling business by scrapping the carbon tax, and that their pay and conditions were "safe" under the coalition.
"We want people to earn more, not less," he told them, before he and Ms Bishop posed for workers, Sherrin in hand.
He was later shown to a table displaying all the goods made from Packer leather, which among other things included football boots, gloves and even a whip.
No doubt wanting an image to fit the headline "ABBOTT HOLDS WHIP HAND", one photographer called out: "You can try the whip, Tony".
"I was wondering when that suggestion was going to be made," Mr Abbott said with a laugh, leaving the whip untouched on the table.
