'Not under 12s': Sunday Footy Show hosts fire up over 'harsh' whiteboard fallout as Lions coach expresses frustration

Things got heated on the Sunday Footy Show over the Brisbane Lions whiteboard leak that dropped moments before the team took on Essendon on Saturday.

A photo of a whiteboard listing strengths and weaknesses of Bomber players was leaked by a fan from the Lions' training facility, and featured some harsh criticisms of a number of players.

It listed Zach Merrett and Kyle Langford's weakness as "selfish", while Ben McKay had no strength and had "low confidence" as a weakness.

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Sam Durham was called a "hot head", Elijah Tsatas "fumbly" and Andrew McGrath "coughs the ball up".

The leak occurred because a father of an AusKick kid took a photo through a window of the whiteboard, while the Lions were in Melbourne for the game. He then posted that photo to an Essendon supporter group on Facebook.

Speaking after the win, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan expressed his frustration at the leak.

"It's disappointing that we're sitting in here talking about this after a game of football today. Honest to goodness, private information. You guys wouldn't even know about it if that guy hadn't done what he did," Fagan said.

"Somebody illegally took photos of information that was on a whiteboard and then decided to make a hero of themselves and put it out in the public domain.

"I reckon it's a little unfair when it's your workplace and it's what you do every day, and it's information that we keep internal, and we've been doing it for nine years.

"We've been writing the strengths and vulnerabilities of opposition players up on a whiteboard.

"I'm not going to comment on isolated things that were written on it. I can promise you, though, that nothing was written up there that had anything sinister in mind or degrading in mind at all, and that's where I'll stay with that."

Essendon coach Brad Scott refused to buy into discussions about the whiteboard, saying it was "a problem for them to deal with, not us".

Sunday Footy Show host Tony Jones called out the Lions however, saying some of the weaknesses were "really harsh" and will have mental health ramifications given they've been leaked into the public light.

Former Richmond star Nathan Brown however hit back at that assessment, saying "you used the word harsh, I wouldn't call it harsh".

"It's just reality. Those players would already know what their strengths and weaknesses already are," Brown said.

"We're not in prep. We're not in primary school."

Jones disagreed, wondering how Ben McKay would be feeling after weeks of scrutiny, his own fans bronx cheering him and now an opposition club suggesting he has low confidence, with no strengths.

"Not everyone was as good as you, Nathan or as strong above the shoulders," Jones replied.

"But if you're Ben McKay, how are you feeling this morning? He cops enough crap and now it's out in the public domain that that's what the opposition thinks."

Former Adelaide captain Rory Sloane agreed with Brown, saying "it's not under 12s footy though".

Later in the show, the panel condemned Essendon fans for jeering and bronx cheering McKay, during the loss to Brisbane. Journalist Damien Barrett called it an action from fans he "really loathes".

McKay only had five disposals in the loss to Brisbane and spent a longer than usual amount of time on the bench in the second half. Whenever he did touch the ball however, his own fan base let him have it.

Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd called on the media and fans to give McKay a break.

"We all know he's out of form and struggling with confidence. He's probably been the scapegoat for the club in recent weeks," he said.

"It would be nice for fans and the media to ease up on him."

Jones agreed, doubling down on his thoughts from the whiteboard discussion.

"That's what I was alluding to earlier with the whiteboard and I got shot down for it," he said.

"I think there's only so much you can pile on and just because you happen to kick a leather ball around, doesn't mean you're open slather.

"If we're fair dinkum about mental health and you're copping it from your own supporters in addition to just about every commentator and opposition going around, there's got to be a breaking point.

"Essendon supporters have got to back off."

The Lions have reportedly apologised to the Bombers for the contents of the whiteboard on Sunday.