"Blake was speaking to a player when another man, who he thinks was another player, set him on fire," the workmate, who was not named, told the Herald Sun. The incident caused an furore in Australia, particularly after the head of the Australian Rules competition, Andrew Demetriou, burst into laughter on television after being told of the incident. He later apologised and said he thought it was a joke. "After I found out that it was true, it's just reprehensible," he told 3AW radio. I was flabbergasted... That would've been one thing I could have never predicted that we would deal with. The traditional alcohol-fuelled end-of-season celebrations have led to numerous scandals in recent years, including a player photographed engaging in sex acts with a dog, a player dressing as Adolf Hitler and another parading through the centre of Melbourne while brandishing a sex toy and wearing a woman's nightie. The Australian Football League said the burning of the dwarf was "bizarre" and unacceptable. "The players have been playing pranks on each other by setting the shoelaces on fire and signing happy birthday and they've singed the clothing of a performer that they had there," said a manager at the league, Mark Evans. I think these practices of Mad Mondays and bizarre behaviours and all those sorts of things, I think they're well gone. It's certainly bizarre, but it's not conceivable that this is the way we should operate at celebrations for (the) end of the season.