Local footy player banned for life for ugly coward punch behind play

A South Australian footballer has received a lifetime ban for a sickening act that left his opponent severely concussed.

A local South Australian footballer has been deregistered and banned for life after a sickening coward punch floored his opponent behind play last month.

Ingle Farm premiership player Brandon Rigney was slapped with a mammoth 14-match ban from Adelaide Footy League for the off-the-ball incident that left his rival badly concussed.

A video of the sickening moment was captured by a fan on June 14, which showed in the last quarter Rigney struck the opposition player in the head from behind, knocking him out.

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The Bulldogs player then incredibly tried to feign injury, lying face-first down on the ground next to the player he had just punched.

The teams then got in a push and shove as spectators looked on in shock.

Due to the fact that the hit happened well off the ball, the umpires missed what happened.

However, due to a spectator capturing the incident on camera, Fitzroy lodged a complaint with the league.

After the league reviewed the vision, Rigney was subsequently hit with a 14-game ban after it was graded as intentional conduct, high contact and severe impact.

A South Australian footballer has received a lifetime ban for a sickening act that left his opponent severely concussed. Image: 7News

But his punishment doesn’t end there.

Rigney was already one suspension away from being banned from the league.

And after his whopping ban took his total career games banned to 25 – well beyond the AFL’s nationwide limit of 16 – he is now not only banned for life from the Adelaide Footy League but from every competition across the country.

The only way he could play again is with a successful appeal and safe to say that is highly unlikely.

Adelaide Footy League boss John Kernahan told 7News, the competition found vision of the incident was alarming.

“The Adelaide Footy League is disappointed, frustrated and angry,” he said.

“At the same time, we’re only reaffirming standards and expectations of conduct.

“These types of incidents in 2025 are thankfully from a bygone era though our reaction is very 2025; we’re not having it.

“The footage doesn’t leave much to the imagination.

“Fitzroy had every right to represent their players’ interests and Ingle Farm was cooperative and extremely embarrassed.”

Originally published as Local footy player banned for life for ugly coward punch behind play