Spectators brawl at junior league grand final

POLICE were called to a junior rugby league grand final this morning after parents and spectators stormed the field and began brawling.

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POLICE were called to a junior rugby league grand final this morning after parents and spectators stormed the field and began brawling.

Townsville District Duty Officer Senior Sergeant Matt Lyons said police received a call to the Junior Rugby League grounds on Kern Brothers Drive at Kirwan about 10.20am.

“It was ascertained that numerous spectators ran on to the field at the conclusion of the game and engaged in a confrontation with each other,” Sen Sgt Lyons said.

“At this stage it is unknown whether any players were involved but it is believed the main instigators were the adult spectators.”

The incident is alleged to have occurred at the end of the grand final game between the under 15s United Suburbs and the Western Lions JRL sides.

Sen Sgt Lyons said police escorted a number of people from the grounds to prevent further fights.

A violent brawl has erupted at a junior rugby league game in Townsville. @samheathwood has details at 5.00pm #9News pic.twitter.com/MDItDrM5IB

— Nine News Brisbane (@9NewsBrisbane) September 12, 2015

He said the Townsville and Districts Junior Rugby League would launch an investigation in to the incident.

It is understood the Queensland Rugby League has also been informed.

“If people have any photographs or videos of the incident we would ask they provide those to rugby league officials,” Sen Sgt Lyons said.

“If anyone wants to make a criminal complaint they can do so with their local police.”

The Townsville Bulletin is seeking comment from the Townsville District Junior Rugby League.

In the meantime, Sen Sgt Lyons slammed the alleged behaviour of the spectators.

“It is only a game. A junior final. They are kids,” he said.

“Sure it is disappointing to win, lose, draw but it should never end in violence.

“Children look to adults for leadership. What kind of a message does it send when the adults are fighting?”

Wester Lions chairman Marc Kennedy has stressed only a small minority of the club’s parents and spectators were involved in the brawl, which was sparked by his club’s tense 26-24 win.

With 30 seconds to play, United Suburbs missed a kick to tie the game up and after a hit up soon after, a brawl broke out.

It is believed a handful of parents and supporters then ran onto the field to involve themselves in the fight, a move Mr Kennedy said the club does not condone in any way.

“From the club’s point of view it was a small minority of people that involved themselves at the end of the game, a game that was played in good spirits leading up to that,” Mr Kennedy said.

“It was played hard and fair and we don’t condone any of the sort of stuff we saw out there at the end of the day.

“It’s unfortunate because it has overshadowed what was really a brilliant game of football, so to have to break up a brawl at the end of things was unfortunate.”

Mr Kennedy said the club’s next move was to ascertain which supporters of his club were involved in the brawl.

“The next step for us is to figure out who was responsible and escalated something that should have stayed on the field,” he said.

“I don’t want to put anything on their club either but I’m pretty comfortable with the behaviour of our boys but we’ll have to go back and look at the tape to figure that all out.

Originally published as Spectators brawl at junior league grand final