Why this photo of AFL star Josh Daicos and his glamorous girlfriend at Taylor Swift’s MCG show saw rival star Tom Hawkins hit back online

Footy star Tom Hawkins has lightheartedly accused Collingwood of hitting him with a ‘stitch-up’ after he appeared in a photo of Magpies star Josh Daicos enjoying one of Taylor Swift’s concerts at the MCG.

Daicos was seen cuddling with his partner Annalize Dalins as they watched the American superstar in the photo on the club’s Instagram, captioned ‘Pies go cray cray for Tay Tay’.

However, closer inspection revealed Hawkins was holding two cans of Great Northern lager while sitting very close to it during the performance, prompting the Geelong great to comment: “Stitch up in the background” with two beer emojis.

The Cats Great saw the lighter side of the picture and good-naturedly accused the Magpies of stitching him up in a comment on the club’s Instagram post (pictured)

Footy fans didn’t miss Hawkins in the background and were quick to draw attention to the 35-year-old Cats star.

“Great Tomahawk lurking,” one person wrote.

Other comments included: ‘How many beers is Hawkins on?’, ‘Not impressed with Tom Hawkins’ photobomb’ and ‘a double whammy with the Hawkins in the background, hilarious’.

A few fans also joked that Hawkins was “double parked,” a slang term meaning he drank two beers because he drank slowly.

Swift’s concerts have left another Magpies star red-faced – and the AFL with a major headache as the start of the season approaches.

On Monday, 211cm tall Collingwood ruckman Mason Cox asked for help finding Taylor Swift fans who couldn’t watch the performance because he was sitting in front of them.

A few fans were quick to make fun of Hawkins (pictured playing for Geelong in 2023)

Swift’s three MCG concerts left the AFL with a lot of work to do ahead of the first match of the season on March 14.

‘HELP WANTED!!!! I want to find the people who were sitting directly behind me (at the concert) and give them tickets to an AFL game. If you know them, please let me know,” Cox wrote on Instagram.

The AFL is now carrying out a huge repair job as it attempts to get the MCG surface ready for the first on-field match of the season when Carlton take on Richmond on March 14.

Swift played three gigs at the 100,000-seat stadium last week, with footage showing the damaging impact it had on the pitch.

However, MCG bosses are well equipped to handle major renovation jobs – having re-landscaped the ground just 13 days after the start of the 2023 season following back-to-back Ed Sheeran concerts.

“With just under four weeks until the first AFL match of the 2024 season, our turf team has spent the last 18 months preparing for the arena renovation,” Melbourne Cricket Club boss Stuart Fox said.

Collingwood’s 211cm tall ruckman Mason Cox (pictured at one of Swift’s MCG concerts, second from right) asked for help contacting fans after he ruined their view with his huge body

Geelong’s great breakfast radio announcer Cameron Ling (pictured) called Swift fans ‘the new biggest flogs in the world’ after some bought multiple tickets to her Melbourne shows

“Although we need to replace two-thirds of the turf, the absence of scheduled events following the three Taylor Swift concerts gives us a wider window for turnaround time.”

Geelong great Cameron Ling caused a stir on Monday when he lashed out at Swift fans for buying tickets to multiple shows and bragging about it online.

“I have one observation about the Taylor Swift concerts, and they are the new biggest flogging on the planet. They are those people who have been to more than one Taylor Swift concert,” Ling said on his breakfast radio show on Monday.

“Now I’m talking about the person who went to more than one concert and decided to show it off and hang it everywhere. There were (so many) desperate to get a ticket.”