The fierce Carlton-Essendon AFL rivalry has a new and bitter twist, with old Blues teammates Greg Williams and David Rhys-Jones at loggerheads.
Rhys-Jones is furious that Williams, now a part-time development coach at Essendon, said he hoped the Bombers "kicked their arse" on Sunday when they play the Blues.
"That's almost laughable, it's almost treason," Rhys-Jones told the AFL website.
"I hope all of the Carlton supporters read it as it shows what he is.
"It's very disappointing for a former Carlton player to talk like that, but not surprising ..."
While Williams and Rhys-Jones are old Blues teammates, there is also clearly bad blood remaining between the two hard men.
That dates back to a 1989 Carlton-Sydney match, where Williams, then at the Swans, broke Rhys-Jones' jaw and was banned for five matches.
To long-time Essendon fans, Williams is an unlikely Essendon figure.
As a Carlton player he had some fierce clashes with the Bombers.
His nine-game suspension for pushing umpire Andrew Coates as Williams was arguing with Essendon opponent Sean Denham is one of the AFL tribunal's most tumultuous cases.
Carlton took the AFL to the Supreme Court and the saga directly led to the creation of the tribunal appeals board.
But Bombers coach John Worsfold, who once worked with Williams at Carlton, lured the two-time Brownlow Medallist to Essendon.
Williams was renowned for his handball and kicking skills as a player and is working at Essendon as a part-time development coach.
But Rhys-Jones is unimpressed that Williams is barracking publicly for an Essendon win over the Blues.
"You didn't hear those sort of comments from guys such as Stephen Silvagni (when at the Giants), Scott Camporeale or Brett Ratten, who have gone on to hold positions at other clubs," he said.
"Now I know he's involved with it I will be barracking twice as hard for Carlton.
"I hope the young boys play for the team as they should and not for themselves as he did."
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