So Gary Ablett has been pilloried for being a 'party animal' and for putting hedonism ahead of his health.

And one of the people accusing Ablett of unprofessionalism? Yes, that ever-responsible flag-bearer for mature behaviour and self-restraint, Shane Crawford.

At issue is the way Ablett chose to recover from a calf injury two weekends ago. Instead of heading straight back to Brisbane with his teammates, the Suns' captain spent two days in Melbourne when - it is alleged - he did not spend as much time on rehab as he should have. He was then a late withdrawal from the Gold Coast team that lost to Melbourne at the Gabba on Saturday.

Speaking on the Sunday Footy Show, Crawford said: "The biggest thing about football these days is recovery, and once you play a game it's all about stretching, icing, doing everything you can to get up for the game the following week.

"If you're going out, doing as you please, not doing everything possible . . . there's a lot of guys who are playing AFL footy that would do anything and everything to get themselves up for the following week. I don't know if he is doing that, so for me that is a big concern.''

Crawford also questioned the commitment of Ablett and some of the Suns' other big-money signings.

"Are they just in party in mode?" he said. "Have they thought, 'Hang on, let's take the money and run and let's just float along for the next few years?' "

Now, we're all for free speech here at BPL, but a little context - and commonsense - is needed in analysing these comments.

Crawford, as one or two of you will know, has played the village idiot on The Footy Show for longer than most of us care to remember -  dakking Sam Newman on one memorable occasion (not), and generally acting the goat. For the best part of a decade, slapstick has been his schtick.

And as captain of Hawthorn, Crawford drew criticism from many quarters - including from some inside Hawthorn, such as Jeff Kennett - for playing the role of Hank Bulger, a character in an astonishingly silly spoof on The Footy Show.

Kennett himself openly wondered whether Nathan Buckley, the Collingwood captain, would ever put himself in the same position as Crawford, knowing full well what the answer was. 

Other people thought it was not a great look that the captain of a struggling club - Crawford led the Hawks for six years including the horror stretch from 2002 to 2004, when they finished 10th, 9th and 15th respectively - was prancing around on Thursday nights, hamming it up with his Footy Show gay love interest, 'Dr Pink', pursing his lips at the camera in a faux-seductive way and generally making a nong of himself.

It was while he was captain, in fact, that Crawford pulled Newman's pants down during the show - live on national television - in a performance of such mind-blowing immaturity that many Hawthorn supporters and officials watching TV at home that night must have been cringing in their armchairs and thinking: so this is the level our club has sunk to.

When Hawks' coach Peter Schwab was sacked in 2004, the media found out before the players were informed. TV cameras duly turned up to Glenferrie Oval and caught the players, including Crawford, by surprise. Asked for a response, Crawford showed little sympathy for his axed mentor, bleating only about how disappointing it was for the players not to have been told before the media, in effect bagging the club.

So on the basis of those priors, I'd say our Shane's got a hide criticising Ablett about leadership and professionalism.

He might have been a heck of a player, and one of the most popular Brownlow Medal winners ever, but someone should tell Crawf to stick to his slapstick Footy Show routines, and leave the sermonising about leadership to others.