The well known Wests supporter caught in the middle of the fracas “Geoffrey” giving his clipboard some much needed action
A wild brawl took place in the Brisbane Rugby League Colts match played between Wynnum Manly and Wests at Purtell Park. Referee Peter Fuller abandoned the match with seven minutes remaining and said, “The match and crowd were completely out of control.”
Wests Chairman Gareth Lazarides said, “the brawl only went on for under one minute, however a number of spectators, players and club representatives were involved.”
The trouble started after after Wynnum centre Brett Anderson was given ten minutes in the sin bin and became involved in a verbal altercation with a former player and a well known spectator. “This is where things turned ugly” he said. “it wasn’t pretty and we will be disciplining our entire colts side as a result over the incident.”
The first spectator at the centre of the incident was a former player and both he and Anderson were asked to leave leave Purtell Park, along with the rest of the Wynnum Manly side”. said Lazarides. The other well known spectator was given permission to stay.
The match was abandoned with seven minutes remaining with Wests in a commanding position leading 50-6. Wests will more than likely have to forfeit the two premiership points and could miss out on an opportunity to play in the Major Semi Final.
Former Wynnum Manly Colts player Darren Haigh recalls the incident:
“After Anderson got sent to the sin bin there was a Wests spectator mouthing off and before too long it had turned into an all in brawl on the sideline with players, staff and spectators involved it was just madness.” “An injured Wynnum player was eating a pie and it ended up in a Wests spectators face and long time Wests supporter “Geoffrey” decided he wanted to be involved in the action, smacking people across the head with his trusty clipboard he always had by his side.” “I have never seen anything like it and we all had to be escorted from the ground for our own safety.”
Story Source: Paul Comber
