Kym Morgan: SANFL clubs must act to stamp out abusive supporters

I’VE never met Luke Grant, nor any member of the Sturt cheer squad. But one thing I know is that lightning rarely strikes twice, writes Kym Morgan.

I’VE never met Luke Grant, nor any member of the Sturt cheer squad.

But one thing I know is that lightning rarely strikes twice.

Grant, a member of the Double Blues supporter group, was last Saturday involved in a physical altercation with West Adelaide player Adam Hartlett, which resulted in the Bloods defender receiving a three-match ban for misconduct.

If followed another physical altercation between Grant and former Woodville-West Torrens player Leigh Treeby at Woodville during a Sturt-Eagles match in 2010.

Treeby, who wasn’t playing in the match, received a $500 fine.

Hartlett, and Treeby, made stupid decisions in the heat of the moment, and Hartlett’s may cost his side as it makes a run at the finals.

Clearly, however, there’s another factor at play here — a fan who may well be a great bloke most of the time but who oversteps the mark on match-days.

Grant chose to charge down to within 1m of where he knew Hartlett was headed to retrieve the football last Saturday and hurl abuse.

Four years earlier he chose to confront Treeby as things became tense at Woodville.

According to Hartlett, Grant yelled at him “I’m going to bash you Hartlett, you f***in’ dog”.

Grant denies threatening the player but admits he moved towards him and abused him from close range.

In the same match, another Sturt cheer squad member was kicked out of the ground for threatening Hartlett near the three-quarter time huddles, and a West fan was evicted and later banned from Richmond for three months for racially abusing the Double Blues’ Richard Tambling.

It comes a week after Norwood warned its own fans about the “tenor” of their barracking after supporters abused Eagles players at Woodville.

The situation saddens me. I love the SANFL — it’s iconic, it’s the best followed state league in the world and it provides a raw, tribal atmosphere you don’t get in the AFL.

But the competition’s future relies on providing a family-friendly atmosphere which attracts new supporters.

Right now, the league and clubs are doing all they can to facilitate this with a host of inclusive initiatives.

It’s now time for a minority of SANFL fans — the ones who think it’s OK let fly with foul-mouthed diatribes every five minutes — to man up and do their bit for the competition they apparently love.

Be loud, be passionate, but show a reasonable level of respect to the players, umpires, and children, at matches.