Eddie McGuire has taken aim at GWS and the AFL after the Giants went ahead with their pre-game "orange tsunami warning" tradition on Sunday, arguing the routine should have been shelved for the weekend out of respect to victims of Cyclone Alfred and the high tides.
It's become customary at GWS home games for a loud alarm sound to be projected throughout Engie Stadium at Sydney Olympic Park ahead of the opening bounce. Giants fans are encouraged to play along by stomping.
Wide World of Sports understands the Giants consulted with tsunami survivors before embracing the "orange tsunami warning" as a marketing tool several years ago.
The term "orange tsunami" was introduced to describe the Giants' explosive style of play and the metaphor took off from there.
The pre-game routine went ahead before Sunday's clash with Collingwood, on the same weekend that the two other scheduled Opening Round games weren't held due to the natural disasters in Queensland's south and NSW's north.
GWS Giants fans pictured during the club's Opening Round clash with Collingwood. Getty
McGuire was critical of the Giants and the AFL on the latest edition of Nine's Eddie and Jimmy podcast, which he co-hosts with Geelong Cats champion Jimmy Bartel.
"I don't like it … I don't mind the marketing tool, but on a weekend when there was a cyclone and tsunami warnings as such, I thought it was a bit tinny. That's all. I just don't like it," McGuire said.
"If we said 'bushfire warning' or something we'd all arc up.
"I get the 'orange tsunami' [and] I love the marketing of it; I just don't like the vernacular."
McGuire then took a swipe at the AFL.
"The AFL, who are so politically correct and are on everything, let that one through. I thought, 'Hmm, that's interesting'," said the former Collingwood president.
"It's neither right nor wrong; it's just a point of view. Others might say, 'Don't worry about it too much, it's a natural disaster, it happens all the time, get on with it'."
The veteran media personality drew attention to the 2004 tsunami tragedy that rocked the AFL — the death of Demons player Troy Broadbridge at 24 on his honeymoon in Thailand.
"I'd hope they [the Giants] wouldn't do it against Melbourne Football Club, who lost Troy Broadbridge in the tsunami," McGuire said.
The Giants are scheduled to play the Demons at the MCG on Sunday afternoon, but the "orange tsunami warning" tradition is only a feature of GWS home games.
Bartel, a former GWS board member, said to McGuire as he explained his disapproval: "I can see that point of view".
WWOS contacted both the Giants and the AFL for comment.
GWS thrashed Collingwood by 52 points on Sunday, opening its premiership campaign with a 15.14 (104) to 6.16 (52) win.