AFL 2023: Mick Molloys fruit joke torched by South Australia before Front Bars Adelaide Gather

Mick Molloy has become embroiled in one of the weirdest feuds of 2023 after a joke that landed flat in South Australia.

The popular footy funny man on Thursday morning responded with another jibe towards the famously snoozy state after he was called out by a South Australian MP.

The host of Channel 7’s Front Bar was on Wednesday bizarrely dragged into a brouhaha by Upper House MP Frank Pangallo.

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The SA-Best party member took exception to a recent joke Molloy made about the state’s famous fresh produce border protection laws.

The 56-year-old quipped he was going to be smuggling fruit into the state ahead of the show’s special event broadcast from the City of Churches. The show will be screened from Adelaide Oval ahead of the AFL’s inaugural Gather Round, beginning April 13.

He told The Advertiser: “Keep it under your hat, there may be some outstanding warrants for my arrest over there.

“I love travelling to South Australia. I’ll be bringing fruit over in my boot anyway, so it’s a good excuse to watch some footy as well.”

Pangallo took exception to the fun being poked at the state’s border protection policy.

“It’ll be no laughing matter if there’s a fruit fly outbreak as a result of carelessness by interstate visitors,” he said.

“Mick can be a funny bloke, but it appears that he has dropped the ball as to the consequences of his reckless joke.

Should others take him literally and bring fruit in their car boots and expose our state to yet another costly fruit fly outbreak, which endangers the fruit fly free status.”

Primary Industries Minister Clare Scriven has ruled out taking any action and laughed off the light-hearted comments, according to The Advertiser.

Molloy on Thursday doubled down on his comments when speaking on Triple M’s Mick & MG in the Morning show — and said he will not be making an apology

He said the state wants payback for comments he made during the saga that followed NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s incredible attack on the state.

With South Australia lining up a move to take the traditional New Year’s Test slot away from Sydney, Perrottet said: “A five-day washed out Test in Sydney is much better than a five-day Test in Adelaide because at the end of it, you’ve spent five days in Adelaide”.

Now Molloy is worried about returning to South Australia as a public enemy.

“I would like a pardon from the Premier,” Molloy said with a laugh.

“The Premier of South Australia, who we only have kind things to say about, except for the time they tried to steal the Test from Sydney.

“This state hates me. This is payback. This is payback for comments about trying to steal the Sydney Test. I’ve had no joy in this state. I was taken to the supreme court once. And by the way can I say I wasn’t very happy with the court room artist, I looked like Matt Preston.”

His comment referenced the Supreme Court’s 2012 ruling that Molloy had defamed Nicole Cornes by using a sex joke on Channel 10’s Before the Game football show. She was awarded $93,000 in damages.

As far as his most recent heresy towards the state goes, Molloy shrugged off the “dumb” argument.

“I think it was a quiet news day in Adelaide. That’s my official comment,” he said on the breakfast radio show.

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“Look, I haven’t been there in a while, in fact I haven’t been there since Crazy Horse closed down. If the weight of opinion in Adelaide is that they would not like to attend then the show won’t go.

“And also, I find it a really dumb and stupid argument. I don’t know if he is attention seeking or if he feels everyone out there is as silly as he obviously is, but I’m happy not to distract from what should be a great weekend, a celebration of football.

“I don’t feel like apologising. It’s because it’s a joke and I’m a comedian. Let’s let the public decide.”

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