The country pub that hosted AFL players for Mad Monday drinks is defending them for having a “few quite beers” while being filmed.

Richmond players were filmed at The Garfield Hotel, 80 kilometres east of Melbourne on Monday, appearing to mock Sydney’s sexual assault allegations.

Richmond and the AFL are yet to comment on the antics of Tigers players – including when one player was filmed feigning shock when spanked on his rear by a teammate. In footage circulating widely in the media, another teammate can be seen whipping a fellow player on the back with a belt.

“In our view, this has been blown out of proportion,” the hotel said in a statement posted on social media on Tuesday and attributed to “the ownership group”.

The hotel said it “could not speak more highly” of the behaviour of the Tigers players.

“For such a young group, they were extremely respectful and a fun group of boys to deal with,” the statement read.

“They enjoyed a few quiet beers to unwind after a long season, and we see nothing wrong with that.

“They had booked out the venue for the afternoon, so they were the only patrons on site.

“They enjoyed their afternoon and moved on.”

The hotel noted media were waiting for the Tigers players “in the hope of capturing a misstep, which we consider disappointing”.

Richmond and the AFL have been contacted for comment.

But the footage is a fresh concern for the AFL following last week’s ban of five Sydney players amid sexual assault allegations.

The Swans have suspended Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon for breaching club standards over an alleged incident at a Melbourne hotel eight days ago.

The players are under police investigation. No charges have been laid.

The Richmond footage emerged hours after AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon made his first public statements regarding the Swans scandal.

“I have been asked a lot in recent days, what message football should be sending young people and what we should be saying to our kids,” Dillon said.

“For me, the answer is straightforward: It doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what you do, whether you’re an AFL footballer – the way we treat women says a lot about who we are as people, as a community and as a game.

“Quite simply, respect for women is not negotiable.”

Dillon said the actions of the five suspended Swans players had “fallen well short of the standards our game expects and community deserves”.

“While there are players involved, we cannot lose sight of the bigger picture. More importantly, there are women who have made a report to police and they should be shown care and respect,” he said.

-AAP