Police called to junior Aussie rules game after spectators fight in carpark on Sunday
The president of a Queensland Aussie Rules club has slammed the “deplorable” actions of a group of people who allegedly coward punched an individual as part of an ugly car park brawl in the aftermath of a junior game. Full details inside.
The president of a Queensland Aussie Rules club has slammed the “deplorable” actions of a group of people who allegedly coward punched an individual as part of an ugly car park brawl in the aftermath of a junior game.
It comes as police and AFL Queensland continue to investigate the incident that took place following a fight that occurred during an under-15 Aussie Rules game between Greater Springfield Storm and Beenleigh Buffaloes at latter’s home ground at Dauth Park on Sunday.
Greater Springfield president Luke Playfair claimed the incident was sparked by intoxicated Beenleigh spectators.
“Our parents went to walk out to get their cars and were confronted by four or five drunk individuals who thought they would like to continue abusing parents,” he said.
“I don’t believe he was a parent of our club but a friend that was with one of our parents was punched in the back of the head while he wasn’t looking and hence the escalation went from there.
“I understand the police are involved now.
“It was deplorable, we’ll support AFLQ with their investigations and the police.
“The president of Beenleigh has reached out to apologise to us.
“We will have a meeting with our player base for the particular team to debrief and provide suitable guidance for kids that observe that sort of stuff.
“We’ve got counsellors coming in that will play those supporting roles to make sure the kids understand what happened wasn’t acceptable and then further educate our parents on levels and de-escalation that we can do.
“It’s an unfortunate event and one that we certainly do not want to see again.”
Playfair said the matter had been settled and no one from the club was pursuing charges.
Beenleigh Buffaloes junior president Zane Jackson said he was unaware of the exact details of how the fight started but would take whatever action is necessary to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
He said if Playfair’s claims were found true in the investigation, the club would support those findings and act accordingly.
“We’ll help them do whatever we can to assist those investigations,” Jackson said.
“We don’t condone what happened, I’m not 100 per cent sure what happened myself but if that’s what the investigation finds we’ll support it.
“We’re keen to act on it straight away, as soon as there’s word, as soon as they give us any kind of findings or any indication of what’s happened we’re ready to pounce on it and put it into action.”
Jackson said the incident was not reflective of Beenleigh as a club.
“What happened is terrible, that’s not what junior sports is about and what we stand for,” he said.
“A lot of people put in a lot of hours volunteering and it’s not representative of the many families involved for the love of the sport.”
AFLQ confirmed it was looking into the matter.
“The Queensland Police attended the car park after the conclusion of the game. AFL Queensland has made enquiries with the police regarding the status of a potential investigation,” an AFLQ statement said.
A Queensland Police spokeswoman said no arrests have been made at this stage and investigations remain ongoing.
