Travis Head's C-Bomb judged just as damaging as NRL star's swear-fest

The way Julie Lamberg-Burnet sees it, Travis Head's one-word expletive is no less forgivable than Brandon Smith's swear-fest on the now infamous podcast that has brought obscenities in sport into sharp focus.

Head, the batting hero of Australia's first Test win over England, was fined 15 per cent of his match fee (around $2,000) for uttering the word 'c..t' in self admonishment after playing and missing at a delivery from Ben Stokes at the Gabba.

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The batsman's profanity was in the heat of the moment and only picked up because of the stump mic broadcasting just about every word uttered on the pitch.

But according to Lamberg-Burnet, CEO of the Sydney School of Protocol, Head's outburst was just as damaging as Smith's F and C-bomb-athon in more laidback surrounds.

Lamberg-Burnet's company specialises in enhancing people's interpersonal skills to build social and business intelligence and life skills.

A how-to guide for certain settings, if you like.

And swearing, regardless of the environment, is a big no-no.

"The perceptions we have of sports players is determined very much through how they communicate both on and off the field," Lamberg-Burnet told Yahoo Sport Australia.

"Unprofessional comments destroy and damage the player's personal authenticity and is perceived as either they are under pressure or attempting to draw attention to themselves.

"A professional style of language is the most appropriate for all settings - both on and offline, formal or informal.

"Context is important to consider and invariably when one thinks it is comfortable to swear in public, it often rebounds on social media or back to the boss or sponsor/s with a negative outcome."

Players aware of microphones eavesdropping

Steve Crawley, not surprisingly, sees things a little differently to Lamberg-Burnet.

The executive director of Fox Sports acknowledges there is always the risk of an obscenity going to air when the mics are so close to the action, but the pros far outweigh the cons.

"When you hit your thumb with the hammer you aren’t always strong enough to just say 'ouch'," he pointed out.

"Everything has a downside. But there are so many wonderful insights to the game that bring the audience close to the game through players being mic'd that we’d suggest the upside wins most times."

Players are uncomfortable with the microphones eavesdropping on every conversation but know it's a fight they are not going to win with broadcasters.

And given Fox didn’t receive an official complaint over Head's language, it suggests fans are willing to wear the odd obscenity if it means we can now enter what used to be a private world.

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