Podcaster Andrew “Menners” Menczel has opened up about his heated on-air clash with former Australia leg-spinner Stuart MacGill on the Cricket Unfiltered podcast, saying the incident crossed a line. Menczel said the exchange felt like an attempt to bully him during the recording.
The confrontation unfolded during a discussion about the treatment of David Warner’s wife Candice during Australia’s 2018 tour of South Africa. In reply after the episode went viral, Menczel addressed the incident and detailed what happened once the microphones were switched off.
“Show ends and then he goes off some more. Yells at me, calls me the ‘C’ word. Storm out the door and I just say I’m going to release the episode,” Menczel said.
“There’s no way I’m going to sit on this apart from the fact that he was yelling at me to release the episode. And you think the way he was carrying on, he’d be begging me not to release it.”
Menczel also revealed that MacGill wanted a specific part of the discussion removed from the podcast.
“Then he was saying for me to bleep out Sonny Bill Williams’ name because no one can hear the ex-footballer’s name. What an absolute muppet he is.
“So he leaves, I release it and look, I was fine. I don’t mind being called those things. I’m no shrinking violet.”
The podcaster said he was not personally shaken by the insults but felt the tone of the exchange reflected poorly.
“Anyone that’s listened to this show knows I can take a punch. I can give a punch. People were checking in with me about my mental health. I’m doing fine.
“One thing about that though that I didn’t like is the bullying. His attempt to bully me or bully anyone because that’s not good to listen to. It’s not good to watch, it doesn’t set a good example.”
“So I find that stuff quite onerous. I don’t mind arguing with someone, and on the show, I did try take on board his point of view.
“But he wasn’t having any of it, and he had this meltdown, which was immature, and it was bullying. It wasn’t arguing, it wasn’t fun to listen to.”
The tense moment occurred during a discussion about the abuse Candice Warner faced during the 2018 Test tour of South Africa, when sections of the crowd wore Sonny Bill Williams masks. Menczel criticised the behaviour as crossing the line, but MacGill objected to revisiting the topic, leading to a heated argument that quickly spiralled into personal insults.
WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN MACGILL AND MENCZEL
The argument erupted when Menczel described the crowd’s taunts aimed at Candice Warner as unacceptable and “way over the line”. MacGill strongly disagreed with revisiting the incident and accused his co-host of prolonging the controversy by discussing it again.
The exchange escalated rapidly, with MacGill interrupting Menczel, calling him a “pig-headed moron” and a “f***ing idiot” during the segment. He also warned that if any portion of the discussion was edited out, it would end their working relationship and at one stage even suggested he might “jump across the mic”.
The confrontation stunned listeners, and the episode quickly gained traction online, with many criticising MacGill’s aggressive conduct during the heated debate.
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