POLICE have been called in and league officials are promising to clamp down after ugly scenes marred Sunday’s Group 4 grand final which descended into chaos when crowds stormed the field.
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Among player send-offs, angry supporters spilled onto Jack Woolaston Oval mid-game before referees stopped play and called the game off early between long-time rivals, West Lions and North Tamworth Bears.
It’s understood police are investigating an assault after allegations a player headbutted one of the referees, while there were claims supporters levelled verbal threats at others on the ground.
On Monday, Oxley Acting Superintendent Jeff Budd would not be drawn on the details surrounding the police intervention.
“Police are investigating allegations arising from an incident on the field at the Group 4 rugby league grand final on Sunday afternoon at Jack Woolaston Oval,” he told The Leader.
“That investigation is continuing.”
The on and off-field drama left a sour taste in the crowd who left the game, with Bears claiming an easy victory, despite the early finish. And league officials are angry.
“I’m shattered, angry, disappointed, it’s hard because it’s two years in a row that the grand final has finished like this,” Group 4 President Mick Schmiedel told The Leader.
“We will stamp out this behaviour because we want to protect the image and integrity of the game.”
Mr Schmiedel said the Group stood by referees and said players, supporters and those involved in the ugly incident needed to take responsibility for what happened.
“It’s disappointing for the game, and we as a Group we’ve got to protect the reputation of the game,” he said.
“The problem we have is nobody is taking accountability for their actions so we’re going to review a few things, and that’s off the video [of the game].
“What we’ve got to do is realise it happened in last year’s final, some of the players involved in last year, were involved again this year.
“We can’t lay the blame at the ref, we can’t lay blame at Norths, we can’t lay blame at Wests, it’s everybody that was there.”
The judiciary will meet within two weeks to decide the fate of players or supporters involved, and Group 4 says there will be a zero-tolerance for the scenes that played out on Sunday.
“It will be dealt with swiftly, we will be looking at bans and penalties and suspensions, the majority of what happened is on the field,” Mr Schmiedel said.
Breanna Chillingworth
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
Northern Daily Leader Senior Crime and Court Reporter
