Shame on you Cats great Paul Chapman slams Hawks fans over Isaac Smith boos
Geelong great Paul Chapman has taken aim at Hawthorn fans for booing ex-Hawk Isaac Smith throughout the Easter Monday thriller between the two teams.
After 210 games for Hawthorn between 2011 and 2020, Smith crossed to the Cats as a free agent during the off-season and had 15 possessions against his old team.
Despite his brilliant service for their club over 10 seasons, Hawthorn fans let Smith know how they felt about his defection, with the winger receiving vociferous boos every time he touched the ball.
The reception Smith received did not sit well with Chapman, who also ended his career by moving to another club after being a triple premiership star with Geelong.
“Hawthorn supporters – shame on you,” Chapman wrote in a tweet.
“A 3-time premiership player goes to another club and you boo him. Thank you Geelong supporters for being more understanding. Love you guys – respect.”
Chapman was a mainstay in Geelong’s side throughout the 2000s, playing 251 games for the club before spending his final two seasons with Essendon.
The boos seemed to have little impact on Smith, who set up his side’s first goal of the afternoon. However, the veteran winger admitted he was nervous in a tense final term.
“I was just thinking, ‘Christ, if I get the shot after the siren, what’s going to happen here?’,” Smith told Seven after the game.
Smith’s old Hawthorn teammate Jordan Lewis also suggested that the Cats star would not have been phased after the initial reception.
“Let’s be honest, he probably would have heard the boos the first time,” Lewis said on Fox Footy at half-time.
“But once the game and his concentration were occupied by other things, he may not have heard the other things.”
Despite talk coming out of the Hawthorn camp that they would have no problem cleaning up their old mate prior to the match, Smith shared warm embraces with his old teammates after the final siren.
