AFL star Josh Battle and partner Casey Ollier welcome their first child – but one detail in the announcement photo has everyone talking

AFL fans rushed to congratulate St Kilda forward Josh Battle and his partner Casey Ollier on the birth of their first child on Monday.

But some were a little confused by their announcement because of one detail in the Instagram post they considered a ‘flex’.

Josh, 25, went shirtless in the hospital snap next to Casey as the new parents cradled their newborn daughter Bobbi Lee Battle.

A handful of followers thought Josh was using the occasion of his child’s birth to show off his muscles – but that wasn’t the case at all.

He was shirtless because hospitals now encourage dads to go ‘skin to skin’ with their babies soon after birth, just like mums have done for years, because it helps them bond.

‘Why has he taken his top off,’ one person asked.

‘Why doesn’t he have any clothes on?’ another questioned. 

But one Twitter user pointed out that Josh removed his shirt for skin-to-skin contact.

The St Kilda forward, 25, and his girlfriend announced the exciting news on social media sharing a photo of the trio 

‘Skin-to-skin contact is really good for a newborn, so I’d say that’s why. I did it with both of my kids, extremely common these days,’ another revealed. 

‘The midwife will help raise the baby’s temperature and bond with their father by wrapping them up together with skin to skin contact. He would’ve been doing that prior to the pic being taken,’ a third user said. 

Meanwhile, other fans didn’t mention Josh going shirtless and simply congratulated the new parents on their bundle of joy.

Some fans were confused as to why Josh chose to be shirtless in the hospital photo

‘Congratulations to both, welcome to the Saints family Bobbi,’ one wrote.

‘Congrats on the new addition to the Battle family!’ another said. 

Bobbi is the second child for Casey, she welcomed her first daughter, Billie Lee Decker, three, in November 2020 with former partner Brad Decker. 

Bobbi is the second child for Casey, she welcomed her first daughter, Billie Lee Decker, 3, in November 2020 with former partner, Brad Decker