Emotions poured out after Mason Cox and Christian Petracca were separated by teammates after Melbourne’s win over Collingwood.
As the final siren sounded in the Demons’ four-point win, Channel 7’s newscast exchanged words between an angry Petracca and Cox.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Cox and Petracca in a heated exchange after the match.
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Melbourne skipper Max Gown tried to separate the pair before they went back at each other.
They refused to shake hands and continued to talk to each other until Collingwood forward Brayden Maynard pushed Cox and they went their separate ways.
It is not known what caused the war of words.
It came at the end of a match against the Demons that saw the Magpies suffer their second defeat of the season.
Melbourne recruit Brodie Grundy stood tall during his old side’s win over Collingwood, which puts the Demons in the limelight of the AFL’s top two.
Simon Goodwin’s men looked home until goals from Brody Michocek and Nick Dykos dragged the Magpies back within a shot deep into the final quarter.
But this time the comeback was no fairy tale for the Kings as the Demons continued to exchange desperate finals.
Melbourne forward Bailey Fritsch kicked a lowly three goals and Jack Viney won the best-on-ground medal with 32 points.
The burly midfielder managed 19 tackles, 11 tackles, nine clearances and a goal despite injuring his shoulder in a collision with Bo McCreary in the third quarter.
Angus Brayshaw (25 tackles, six clearances), Christian Petracca (28, six clearances) and Lachie Hunter (28, one clearance) were the top scorers for the Demons.
Last year, forced by the Magpies to ease wage pressures, Grundy endured laughter from Collingwood fans after missing an early set-piece.
But the experienced ruckman made up for it with a third-quarter goal and finished with 26 tackles and 13 disposals as a key contributor.
Collingwood’s Patrick Lipinski kicked two goals in his return from a long-term shoulder injury as Tom Mitchell (30), Jack Crisp (28), Nick Daikos (27) and Taylor Adams (27) collected plenty of touches.
Magpies captain Darcy Moore played in the game despite needing treatment on an ankle injury in the change room in the last quarter.
A huge crowd of 83,578 went wild for the bone-rattling clashes between Hunter and Will Hoskin-Elliott and rival Max Gawn and Mason Cox in the first half.
The Magpies held an eight-point advantage at that stage but surrendered a half-time lead for the first time under Craig McRae after winning 19 tries from that position.
Melbourne kicked the first three goals of the second half, including one to Grundy, but their lead was cut to one point when Lipinski kicked the first goal of the final quarter.
Shots were key for the Demons all afternoon, and they were rattled when Joel Smith, Kisaiah Pickett and Fritsch all missed the game at the net.
Alex Neil-Bullen and Jacob van Rooyen showed consistency before goals to Mihocek and Dykos in the final 26 seconds.
But Melbourne improved its season record to 9-4 and picked up its second win of the year against the current top eight.
They are coming off a mid-season bye with two wins over Collingwood and Port Adelaide (both 11-2).
– with AAP.
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