A Collingwood fan can count on a name from the AFL after he grabbed a West Coast participant throughout Sunday’s conflict at Marvel Stadium.
The fan is probably going dealing with an prolonged stadium ban after the incident, which the AFL is investigating.
Watch each recreation of each spherical this Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks throughout play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Begin your free trial at the moment >
Early within the ultimate quarter of a match the Pies gained by 66 factors, West Coast’s Josh Rotham kicked the ball lengthy out of defence in the direction of a marking contest between Collingwood star Josh Daicos and 18-year-old Eagle Harvey Johnston.
As you possibly can see within the video participant above, the ball ran over the sideline and Johnston ran to gather it.
That’s when a closely tattooed fan in a cap and Collingwood jumper put each palms on the West Coast rookie’s head after which pinched the Sherrin from him.
Johnston, who was enjoying in simply his second recreation, solely provided a small smile because the fan handballed the footy again to the boundary umpire.
All of it appeared pretty innocuous and wasn’t an aggressive act, with the commentators solely remarking on the fan’s abilities with the footy, however he’s positive to be contacted by AFL HQ.
There may be current precedent, with a fan making contact with Richmond’s Marlion Pickett in a spherical 21 conflict in opposition to the Bulldogs final season.
Because the Tigers discovered themselves down closely within the third quarter of that recreation, a member of the gang surrounded by Canines followers reached out and tapped Pickett a collection of occasions on his left shoulder along with his again turned.
Pickett instantly swung round and had phrases with the person, knocking his drink down because the supposed fan appeared to level in the direction of the scoreboard.
Safety was additionally rapidly on the scene and Pickett was seen chatting with Tigers official Tim Livingstone throughout the ultimate break.
The AFL got here down exhausting on that fan, banning him from attending any AFL or AFLW match till the tip of the 2024 season.
“We now have the very best followers on this planet and greater than 6.4 million folks have attended the footy this 12 months,” AFL govt Kylie Rogers stated on the time.
“And we would like everybody who involves the footy to cheer for his or her workforce and benefit from the expertise of being there.
“However once you overstep the boundaries, which is what occurred on Friday night time, then you’ll lose the privilege of with the ability to attend the footy
“Our clear message is that this – we love the interactions between gamers and followers particularly within the treasured moments pre and post-game – nevertheless what we noticed on Friday night time throughout the match is just not acceptable and by no means can be.”
Talking concerning the incident after the match, then-Richmond coach Andrew McQualter additionally condemned the actions of the fan.
“It shouldn’t occur … we love followers in our recreation and they’re so vital to our recreation however gamers ought to by no means, ever be touched once they’re on the soccer discipline,” he stated.
“It’s disappointing that occurred.
“I feel all Marlion was doing (at three-quarter time) was alerting Tim to the truth that one thing occurred and simply getting safety to take care of it.
“The AFL will take care of it now.”
The Collingwood fan is probably going set to face the same punishment over a probably harmful transfer the AFL is decided to stamp out of the game.
