Denigrating the AFL as "aerial ping pong" in the birthplace of Aussie rules footy is either a very brave or very dumb political move.
NSW Labor secretary Jamie Clements wants Australians to embrace a lifelong love of sport but can't bring himself to even like the AFL.
"It's not sport. It's chaos," Mr Clements said in one of the lighter and weirder moments of the ALP national conference in Melbourne on Saturday.
"Sports have rules. AFL doesn't have rules.
"Tight bods and tank tops and red balls going everywhere ... delegates if you want to see a real Labor sport watch rugby league. Now that is a game.
"It's not AFL, it's aerial ping pong.
"It's not the national sport, it's a national joke."
As Mr Clements left the stage ALP national president and Port Adelaide MP Mark Butler told him: "I'm sure the AFL will continue without your support."
What was the point of Mr Clements' little sporting rant at Australia's biggest political gathering?
Mr Clements successfully had a section on sport included in the ALP's policy platform.
It pledges that Labor will encourage a lifelong love of sport, and will entrench sport and physical activity as an essential part of the preventative health agenda.
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