Sledging will always be a part of AFL football, says one of its greatest exponents, but veteran Giants defender Heath Shaw believes there is a line that should not be crossed as it was in Saturday's spiteful clash between Carlton and St Kilda.
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AFL chief Gillon McLachlan has already ruled out calls for a sledging code of conduct after St Kilda players allegedly insulted Blues skipper Marc Murphy's wife, remarks Saints captain Jarryn Geary has since labelled unacceptable.
Murphy has publicly declared he wants to move on from the incident, while the league has spoken to both clubs and wish not to pursue the matter.
Shaw found himself in hot water after round five when an umpire microphone picked up on him calling Sydney Swan Tom Papley a "f---ing r--ard", after which he released a statement apologising for the insensitive comment saying "There is no place for comments of that nature on or off the football field".
Teammate Shane Mumford also crossed the line in last year's qualifying final, once more against the Swans, when he levelled a mental-health sledge at Lance Franklin.
On the same day the AFL farewelled another of its chirpiest characters in Lou Richards, Shaw said stamping out sledging would be impossible.
"You can't control the heat of the moment for players," Shaw said.
"You have got to understand we are out there for two hours and you are ramped up that the opposition is the enemy and we are going to war and you want to beat them at every cost and do everything you can to win a game of footy.
"During the game you are making hundreds of decisions on where to stand, kick, mark, handball, spoil, whatever it is. And sometimes a slip of the tongue or a sledge or a comment comes out and maybe straight away you regret what you've said but it is caught on mics or seen.
"It is a part of the game no matter what anyone says. If you go too far then there is a line that you probably shouldn't cross. Hopefully there's no more instances but there's 800 guys and people are going to make mistakes."
Shaw is a self-proclaimed sledger who has built a career on niggling opposing forwards to frustration, and on-field aggression was one of the attributes that appealed to the Giants when they recruited the Collingwood premiership player for the start of season 2014.
"I am not someone who shies away from sledging. I have done it for most of my career and obviously gotten myself into a bit of trouble along the way," Shaw said.
"I like to talk to my opponents early on in the game just to see how they're going. I was talking to Jamie Elliott [on Saturday] and I was pretty quiet after he kicked those first couple of goals on me so that went out the window pretty quick, that didn't work too well for me.
"But you know what, it's a tough game and if you think it is going to get you an advantage then why not do it, but you obviously can't take it too far."
Elliott's three goals looked to be steering Collingwood to an upset win over the Giants on Saturday before another chatty GWS star, Steve Johnson, kicked the winning goal with less than a minute to play.
"He's come back in off a really long stint with his first injury and missed a lot of footy and to hurt it again, he's pretty devastated and so's the team," Shaw said.
"He's the heart and soul of our team, 'Cogs', and elevated to vice captain this year. Disappointing for him, but there's light at the end of the tunnel, he'll get back just before hopefully a finals series for us and he'll be fresh as a daisy."
