Source : the age
Premier Ben Carroll has condemned the ugly scenes that erupted at the MCG on Saturday night when fans threw bottles onto the ground, narrowly missing umpires as they walked off the turf after a thrilling preliminary final.
Dozens of water bottles and cans rained down on the ground after Brisbane’s nine-point victory over Hawthorn, when Hawks fans booed the umpires and vented their frustration over a series of high-stakes decisions in the match’s dying minutes.
Footage showed one field umpire, Jacob Mollison, reacting quickly to protect his colleague from a projectile that appeared to have been thrown from the second level of the stadium. Police are now investigating the incidents.
On Sunday morning, Carroll said the behaviour was “not the Victorian way”.
“I think these people should be made an example of. This could have had catastrophic injuries if one of those bottles or cans hit an umpire on the head,” he said.
“You’ve always got to respect the umpire’s decision.”
The Lions clawed back the lead moments before the final siren when Hawks defender Jarman Impey was pinged for holding the ball and Lion Hugh McCluggage cooly slotted the resultant set-shot goal.
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said he understood the fans’ emotions, but “we shouldn’t be throwing things on the field”.
“The emotion of sport, it’s why we love it so much,” he said in his post-match press conference. “All sports, but ours in particular – the beauty is the emotion it makes you feel. At the end of the game, part of me wanted to break down in tears. Part of me wanted to scream with rage. Part of me wanted to throw chairs.”
Mitchell was also gently critical of the umpires, saying the Impey decision was not the main one that concerned him.
“[There were] a couple leading up to it and other key moments in the game. I’m sure the umpires will assess how they performed in the game in key moments.”
Carroll would not be drawn when asked if these comments were appropriate so soon after bottles were thrown.
“I thought the umpires did an excellent job, but I don’t think at any level of any sport, particularly where you’ve got literally millions of people tuned in, umpires can’t be having projectiles thrown at them because it is just so dangerous.”
Ex-premier and Hawks president Jeff Kennett was at the game, but said he didn’t notice any bottles being thrown as he left on the final siren. He said he saw nothing wrong with Mitchell’s speech.
“I didn’t feel it was anything else but measured. You could feel the pain in it: often people give their best speeches when they lose,” he said. “Any throwing of projectiles, whatever they are, in whatever setting, is simply unacceptable.”
AFL Fans Association president Ron Issko said on Sunday that he was stunned by the spectacle.
“I’ve never seen a collective doing what they did like that,” he told this masthead.
“It wasn’t just one or two or five people. It looked like it was a few hundred people around the entire ground throwing stuff onto the ground. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
Earlier this year, Hawks star Nick Watson claimed he had a Coke bottle thrown at him in a match against Sydney, while a fan who threw a lemon at Eagles player Reuben Ginbey was banned for five years.
In late 2024, police charged a 23-year-old Northcote man after throwing a bottle at an AFL goal umpire. The umpire, Steven Piperno, had to be subbed out of the St Kilda-Carlton game with a cut to his head.
Issko said the sheer number of fans participating in the ugly scenes made the incident different to previous throwing incidents.
“If we can find people that threw it, even though we’re not going to catch everyone, they should face consequences, that’s just not the fans that the AFL fans association represent,” he said. “It’s just not on. If you want to do that to umpires, we won’t have umpires and we won’t have a game of footy.”
Issko said the incident would be on the agenda of his group’s next meeting with the AFL, but how to prevent such widespread delinquency happening again he wasn’t sure.
The MCG said its security team was investigating the incident. “We have zero tolerance for this type of behaviour at our venue,” a spokesperson said.
This masthead has contacted the clubs, AFL, and the umpires’ association for comment.
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