Footy star accused over $350,000 burglary rampage is in trouble with the AFL again after shocking act towards crowd after being injured

Dual AFL premiership player Marlion Pickett is in hot water with the AFL after he made an obscene gesture towards Geelong fans at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday night.

Geelong survived a scare against the brave Tigers at home to notch up a 30-point win and snap their worst losing streak in 18 years.

Richmond star Pickett, 32, was captured by TV cameras giving Geelong fans the middle finger while hobbling off the field during the match.

After fulltime he defended his actions by saying he was being abused by the crowd. 

‘As players, we cop a lot of stuff from the fence line,’ he said afterwards.

‘Every week there’s disrespectful [stuff].’

Meanwhile, police are still yet to provide critical evidence to Pickett’s lawyer after charging him over an alleged burglary spree in 2023.

Pickett was arrested in June last year, with police alleging he was involved in a spate of commercial burglaries in Perth during the Christmas period of 2022.

The burglaries allegedly involved the theft of more than $350,000 and included ransacking safes at currency exchange businesses.

Pickett is also accused of being part of a plan to transport the money across the country in a campervan.

The case was adjourned by consent for the seventh time in the Perth Magistrates Court last week when Pickett’s defence lawyer said police had not handed over mobile phone triangulation data and bank records.

Magistrate Janelle Scutt granted an adjournment to June 26.

Pickett’s co-accused Kurtley Thorne, 30, pleaded guilty to a string of charges in Perth Magistrates Court last year.

The Richmond premiership player (pictured outside court) stands accused of involvement in a spate of burglaries after his arrest last year

 Police allege Pickett (pictured playing against Geelong last Sunday) was involved in a string of burglaries that saw more than $350,000 stolen

Pickett has previously spoken about his past brushes with the law and time he spent in prison in Western Australia, saying it was a wake-up call.

He was released from jail, aged 21, in 2013 and then began playing for the South Fremantle Football Club.

Pickett made his AFL debut in Richmond’s 2019 premiership win – just months after being selected by the Tigers in the mid-season draft.

It made Pickett the first VFL/AFL player in 67 years to debut in a grand final and the first since 1926 to win a flag.

He won a second premiership with the Tigers in 2020.