Sports violence: Gold Coast’s worst brawls on and off the field
They’re the on-field acts of violence that left the Gold Coast in shock. On the back of the horror alleged gang bashing of a junior league player this week, we have taken a look back at the brawls that have marred Gold Coast sport over the years.
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THEY’RE the on-field acts of violence that left the Gold Coast in shock.
On the back of the horror alleged gang bashing of a junior league player this week, we have taken a look back at the brawls that have marred Gold Coast sport over the years.
From footy brawls, punch-ups on the beach and incidents where spectators have joined in.
These are the true stories behind the city’s most infamous sporting brawls.
BRAWLS ACROSS THE COAST (2006)
NEW reports of sideline violence surfaced in 2006 with Gold Coast soccer and hockey officials investigating brawls at matches over one weekend.
Police were called to stop a fight that broke out between two fathers at a Mudgeeraba v Broadbeach under-13s soccer match.
Meanwhile, a Burleigh Heads hockey player was accused of hitting an umpire in an A-grade match at Labrador on the same day.
The claims added to a number of incidents of sideline violence at Gold Coast sporting matches, including one in which an 11-year-old boy was allegedly threatened by a father.
The Bulletin revealed at the time a father of a Labrador Tigers under-12 player faced a life ban from junior AFL games after allegedly threatening a boy at a match in Tweed Heads.
Tweed-Coolangatta player Hunter Battye was walking off at the three-quarter siren when a father supporting the opposing team jumped the fence, grabbed him by the jersey and threatened him.
The incident happened following a schoolyard-type scuffle between Hunter and another player.
An official complaint was sent to AFL Queensland which reviewed the matter.
In a separate incident, a rugby league player was on an immediate ban after he allegedly hit an elderly spectator at a Runaway Bay match.
The University-Parkwood player was due to face a committee at the time and if found guilty he may have been banned indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Broadbeach police said the fight at the junior soccer match stemmed from `bad blood’ between two parents and was not related to the match.
It is understood one father, a former Broadbeach supporter, moved his son to Mudgeeraba.
The matter is under investigation. No one was charged.
A Gold Coast Soccer spokesman said at the time until the `two sides of the story’ were revealed they could not make comment on the incident.
However, Mudgeeraba Soccer Club president Jeff Kemp said the behaviour alleged would not be tolerated.
“This is not acceptable behaviour and appropriate action will be taken against this parent,’’ he said in 2006.
“I was not aware of the incident but I will investigate it and it will be taken to a committee.
“We do not tolerate this, especially when there are children around.’’
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Gold Coast hockey president David Hogan said at the time the player accused of striking the umpire could face suspension if found guilty.
Witnesses said the player threw `open-hand punches’ at the umpire after the match at Hunt Park, in Labrador.
They said the attack was sparked after the player was sent to the sin bin.
“We have a zero-tolerance for this type of behaviour and any physical action taken against an umpire is not looked at lightly,’’ he said at the time.
“If the accused is found guilty he could be suspended.’’
Then Queensland Minister for Sport Tom Barton said at the time violence at sporting matches was not consistent with Australian values and beliefs in `a fair go’. He said the Government ‘deplored aggressive behaviour by parents at junior sports competitions’.
COAST SPORT’S BLACKEST INCIDENT (2009)
THIRTEEN Gold Coast regional under-19 rugby league players were suspended in 2009 for a total of 54 weeks after one of the blackest incidents in Coast sport.
“It was atrocious. I hated watching it. In fact I didn’t want to watch it,’’ said longtime local judiciary boss Doug Lipp in 2009 of the video of a brawl that erupted in a match between Beaudesert and Tugun Seahawks.
“People were being kicked while they were on the ground. There were kicks, there were punches. But most worrying was that the fighting kept going for about five minutes.
“It would stop and it would start up again, stop and start. In fact it took officials from both clubs to come on to the field to stop the fighting.’’
Mr Lipp, the then chairman of the Gold Coast Rugby League judiciary, said a total of 15 players were charged as a result of the brawl, which occurred late in the game at Willis Park, Beaudesert.
Of those, nine Beaudesert players and four Tugun players were been suspended.
Two players, one from each club, were each outed for 10 weeks on charges including kicking. Those bans were reduced to seven weeks after early guilty pleas.
Both clubs were adamant they would also be handing out their own discipline to the players involved.
“We are looking at harsher suspensions. We have a responsibility to act and we will,’’ said Beaudesert club president Keith Gee, a former Brisbane Bronco and Gold Coast Seagulls player, at the time.
“I spoke to our players straight after the match in pretty harsh terms.
I told them they have a responsibility to this club.
“I can tell you now that there is a fair bit of remorse within the team.’’
Mr Gee said the suspensions would force the club’s second-last placed team to forfeit this weekend’s match.
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Tugun Seahawks president Scott Swain said his club was considering imposing fines.
“We will be reacting very sternly,’’ he said. ``We don’t want this in our football. We want families coming along and watching. We never want to see this happen again.’’
Mr Gee, who was at the game, described the match as `intense’ and `highly competitive’.
“There had been a break in play for about 15 minutes when one of their players was taken away in an ambulance (as a result of a collision with one of his own teammates),’’ he said in 2006.
“There was a few minutes left, Tugun were ahead 24-20, which was the final score, but Beaudesert were coming home with a wet sail.
“I don’t know what sparked it (the fighting), but it got out of hand to a point where officials had to intervene.’’
Mr Lipp, who said he had to go through the video of the incident `100 times’ over seven hours to collate the charges at the time, said there had been a bit of push and shove at a play-the-ball before fighting erupted across the field involving almost every player.
“We had trouble with the under-19 division a couple of years ago, but we thought we had sorted it out,’’ he said.
“Let’s hope the message has gotten through loud and clear now.’’
Gold Coast Rugby League chairman Craig Marks described the behaviour of some players as ‘nothing short of pathetic’ in 2006.
The league refused to name the players or release footage of the brawl.
BIG BAZZA IN STRIFE (2017)
The Gold Coast Australian rules community celebrated when it was revealed AFL premiership player Barry Hall would play for Labrador in the QAFL in 2017.
The move turned sour in the grand final when footage was captured of Hall striking two Palm Beach Currumbin opponents.
The vision showed Hall dropping the ball in a tackle before being held by an opponent for a number of seconds.
Hall then hit the opposition player in the face, sending him to the turf.
The tall forward didn’t return in 2018, with Labrador officials revealing the abuse from spectators played a big role in his desire to not come back.
SPECTATORS TURN FINAL INTO BATTLE FIELD (2020)
PALM Beach Soccer Club President Michael Hanns vowed to undertake a cultural overhaul in 2020 after an ugly brawl broke out between Sharks and Surfers Paradise supporters in the aftermath of the Gold Coast Premier League grand final.
Police were called to Lex Bell Park on Salerno St in Surfers Paradise around 8.40pm when a fight broke out between opposing supporters.
It’s believed the ‘Palm Beach Palmy Army’ grew increasingly rowdy as the game progressed, swearing at Surfers Paradise players and allegedly throwing drinks at players as they were taking sideline throw-ins as they watched their side crash to a 3-1 loss.
It’s alleged a female Surfers Paradise supporter was assaulted while the game was still ongoing, elevating the tension between opposing camps. Around three Palm Beach supporters continued to instigate trouble, walking back and forth between their supporter camp behind the players’ benches and the Surfers Paradise clubhouse where a bar was located.
Police arrived shortly before 9pm after the major scuffle had largely broken up.
One male patient was transported to Gold Coast University Hospital with an eye injury after being punched in the face.
Mr Hanns condemned the behaviour of Sharks affiliated supporters in 2020 and said the club was already in the process of instigating educational programs to ensure the club’s juniors understood respectful behaviour.
“The loss wasn’t on my mind at all the night after the game. I was up until 3am in the morning trying to think about what we could do to fix it,” Hanns said at the time.
“It is at the top of my agenda to start change. I want a strong culture but Saturday night is not what I’ve been trying to endorse at all.
“I’m absolutely disgusted, I have no other word for it. I wouldn’t bring my kids to the game last night. We want to develop a code of behaviour and educational programs with our juniors to stop the trend and break the cycle.
“We’ve even thought about creating a photo database of our core supporters to create ownership and put the emphasis on our guys to set a standard.”
It’s unclear whether the aggravating supporters were directly linked to Palm Beach’s core group of supporters or even whether they travelled on the Sharks’ supporter buses to the venue.
Surfers Paradise president Telly Karadimos at the time said his club would work with Palm Beach and Football Gold Coast to investigate the incident.
“I was very disappointed, it was disgusting,” he said following the game.
“We will be investigating our spectators as well and if we believe anyone was involved, it’ll be taken very seriously.
“It didn’t take the gloss off our win.
“We created a record at our club, going undefeated and winning the grand final.”
Only two security guards were on hand at the venue.
FIVE YEAR BAN FOR UMPIRE ASSAULT (1990)
LABRADOR reserve grade utility Brett Howell was outed for five years after being found guilty of assaulting an umpire in 1990.
Howell, 23, was reported for assaulting umpire Tony Hendry at the completion of his side’s controversial one-point loss to Surfers Paradise in the 1990 grand final.
Howell, who pleaded not guilty, said at the time he was contemplating a life without football after the decision was handed down.
“It’s very hard and I’ll be 28 when the time’s up, said Howell, who played for Southport for 11 years, in 1990
He was a member of the Sharks’ 1988 senior grand final side before switching to the Tigers for the 1990 season.
Labrador senior player Paul Drever, 22, was suspended for two years after being found guilty of abusive language and assault during the same game.
A member of Southport’s 1989 QAFL premiership side, before crossing to Labrador, Drever was acting as a runner for the reserves on grand final day.
“I’m very disappointed,” Drever said in 1990.
“I thought the evidence didn’t do the actual incident justice. It made it look worse.”
Drever, 22, has been playing for six years and, before last night, had not faced a tribunal.
Both were found guilty after the umpires produced video evidence to support the charges.
INTERNATIONAL RUGBY PLAYER IN COAST BRAWL (2017)
A GOLD Coast footy coach urged Queensland Rugby officials to throw the book at an ex-Tongan international he claimed was responsible for a brawl at a game at Helensvale in 2017.
Helensvale Hogs coach Mark Dobson said at the time former Tongan winger Pila Fifita, who was playing for Surfers Paradise at the time, stomped on a Hogs player who was on the ground before exchanging blows with Helensvale youngster Dean Brandon.
Referees issued both Fifita and Brandon with red cards but Mr Dobson said in 2017 as his player neared the edge of the field, Fifita started throwing punches again before Brandon retaliated.
“Definitely Pila from Surfers was the instigator,” Mr Dobson said at the time.
“The most difficult situation for Dean (Brandon) from Helensvale is if you’re being hit, it’s hard not to retaliate. We’re just disappointed. We’ve got clear photos of Pila (Fifita) stomping on one of our players.”
The Bulletin understands the brawl escalated when other players and spectators joined in the melee as it neared the sideline.
Surfers Paradise Rugby Union Club manager Justin Huntingdon said in 2017 he did not want to comment on the incident but refuted Helensvale’s version of events.
Referees called time on the Hogs’ home game with nine minutes left on the clock.
Surfers Paradise, who have not lost a game this season, led 15-10 at the time referees deemed the match no longer “safe” to continue — a factor that led to Surfers Paradise coming away with the win.
Brandon and Fifita were both due to face the judiciary hearing.
The Bulletin attempted to make contact with Fifita in 2017 but Surfers Paradise captain and coach Kris Burton said at the time Fifita had asked him to speak on his behalf.
Mr Burton said the fight was likely the result of heightened tensions in a particularly hard-fought game.
“It was a physical game,” he said in 2017. “There were little cheap shots everywhere.
“We had a few spectators join and that escalated things.
“There were a few big tackles. Maybe some people got annoyed that they got tackled too well.”
CROWDS FLEE AFTER BIKIE IN LEAGUE BRAWL (2013)
IT was the scene local rugby league officials were hoping to avoid in 2013.
Fans, especially family groups, began leaving the Bycroft Cup grand final early that year after an incident at the ground.
Families could be seen heading for the gate at Pizzey Park after a violent brawl erupted among fans watching the grand final between the Tugun Seahawks and the Southport Tigers.
The fights were quickly broken up by police, who were out in force after previous incidents at Tugun Seahawks games.
Seahawks player Anthony Watts and members of the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Gang were involved in some of the ugly incidents.
The former NRL player turned Finks associate did not attend the 2013 grand final, after being suspended for striking a Bilambil player in the previous weekend’s preliminary final.
Tensions were high among the group of young men at the clash, who began chanting profanities long before kick-off.
About halfway through the first half the first punch was thrown and police moved in quickly to remove trouble-makers from the grounds.
The second brawl broke out about five minutes later with a melee spilling on to picnic blankets occupied by families with small children. Several families packed up and left while others moved across the grounds.
ugun supporters who asked not to be named said it was an embarrassment and those involved should be ashamed.
Tugun local Shayla Connor said at the time it was disappointing.
``People get a bit worked up on big game days, but it was unacceptable for adults to fight in front of kids,’’ she said in 2013.
Other supporters screamed at those responsible for the fights in 2013 to ``grow up’’ and also ``you are worse than the bikies and you’re supposed to be one of us’’.
About six men were removed from the grounds, with one taken away in a police van.
More than 20 uniformed and four undercover police patrolled the grounds until fans had left.
Peter Daley, chairman of Gold Coast and Tweed Rugby League, said at the time he did not want to dwell on the bad behaviour of a handful.
``There was an isolated incident, but it was so small most here did not even notice it,’’ he said in 2013.
``There were no other incidents on the day, we had three good games of football and it was a great family day.’’
DID HE OR DIDN’T HE BITE HIS PENIS (2013)?
IT’S the question we have long wanted the answer for.
Former NRL bad boy Anthony Watts, who had ties with the notorious Finks and Mongols bikie gangs, found himself in strife in 2013 when he was given an eight-match ban for allegedly biting an opponent’s penis while playing for the Tugun Seahawks against Runaway Bay in a Gold Coast Rugby League preliminary final that year.
Television footage showed the Jets player apparently reeling in pain following the incident, however Watts has always strongly denied any biting had taken place.
“I was wearing a mouthguard and there’s no way I bit him on the dick,’’ Watts said in 2013.
“The claim is laughable, but I’ve still had to live with it.
“I know I didn’t do it and the people close to me know I didn’t do it either.
“It’s pretty shithouse to be at the centre of something like this, even though I’ve been through a lot in my career.
“It’s something I’m probably going to be known for, even though they’ve got no evidence to back any of it up.’’
Watts claimed at the time it was a plot to run him out of the game.
The alleged victim pulled down his shorts to reveal a mark on his penis to match officials on the day of the incident, but then declined to make a formal complaint.
Nevertheless, the GCRL decided to charge Watts with contrary conduct and he was handed an eight-match ban.
A photograph of the alleged victim’s penis was produced at the closed hearing. It showed a mark on the skin but officials could not conclude the graze was the result of a bite.
Watts lodged a formal appeal but never showed up to the hearing, resulting in the eight-game ban being upheld.
LEAGUE FINAL DESCENDS INTO MADNESS (2017)
GOLD Coast Rugby League officials closed ranks around two players handed long suspensions for an ugly grand final day brawl described as “madness” in 2017.
The league was forced to investigate a violent sideline confrontation involving players and spectators during the A-grade decider between Burleigh and Runaway Bay at Pizzey Park on September 17 of that year.
The Bulletin revealed at the time the Runaway Bay player involved in the game had been banned for 12 months, five of which was to be suspended.
A spectator, who played for the Mudgeeraba Redbacks and was previously affiliated with the Burleigh Bears club, copped the heaviest sanction from the league for his involvement – two years, with the second year being a suspended sentence.
BEST BUDDIES AFTER BLOW UP ON BEACH (2000)
IN February of 2000 they were rolling around the beach in a huge spat after tensions boiled
over during the Quiksilver Roxy Pro surfing contest at Snapper Rocks.
Later that year they were throwing punches at each other in a boxing ring, but this time
it was in jest.
The Gold Coast’s Trudy Todd and fellow pro Sam Cornish made up after a very public
slanging match.
The rivalry began when they were younger and came to a head in February of 2000
when they got into a brawl after a particularly hard-fought heat of the professional contest.
Claiming she had been hassled outrageously in the water, Todd was livid in 2000 when she was eliminated in the quarter-final by eventual winner Cornish.
Todd had heated words on the beach with Cornish, who allegedly shoved Todd. Then Todd
shoved Cornish’s head into in the sand.
Upset by the incident, Cornish was in tears and Todd subsequently copped a $10,000
fine from the Association of Surfing Professionals for verbal abuse.
All was soon forgotten and the two have become firm friends. “It is great to be
friends again and now we can help each other out when we are competing,” said teenager
Cornish in 2000 after she and Todd had a playful hit-out in the ring with gloves, headgear
and mouthguards.
COAST RACER’S $10K ON-TRACK BUST-UP WITH ‘GOOD FRIEND’ (1994)
THE Confederation of Australian Motor Sport slapped a $10,000 fine on Gold Coast-based BMW racer Tony Longhurst in 1994 after he attacked teammate Paul Morris during the Valvoline Australian manufacturers championship at Winton.
Longhurst was also stripped of the 36 points he had won at the meeting and his Benson & Hedges BMW was excluded from the event in actions brought down.
Winton stewards also recommended to CAMS that Longhurst receive a six-month disqualification, suspended for two years.
It meant if Longhurst committed another infringement in the following two years he would automatically be disqualified from race driving for six months.
Longhurst was penalised for using or offering violence by any means towards any official or competitor.
The 1988 Bathurst 1000 winner and Gold Coast young gun Morris touched coming on to the start-finish straight, causing the cars to veer off the circuit in the second 23-lap heat.
The incident brought out the red flag to stop the race.
Longhurst leapt from his car immediately and approached Morris, yelling and waving his hands in frustration through the window of the 26-year-old’s BMW E36.
“I regret the whole incident. Paul is a good friend and teammate,’’ Longhurst said at the time.
“Now I just have to wait for the decision from the tribunal.’’
Morris was leading the championship on 112 points with Longhurst on 70.
SCHOOLGIRL’S PUNCH TOO ON THE NOSE FOR NETBALL QLD (2004)
GOLD Coast schoolgirl Ashley Dayberg was banned from playing netball for two years after she punched an opponent on the nose.
A tribunal, formed specifically to deal with the incident, convened in Brisbane to hear her case.
Ashley, then 17, was banned by Netball Queensland and said at the time she was devastated.
On Sunday, June 6, 2004, the then Year 12 student put on her netball gear, tied back her hair and prepared for a tough match against a south Brisbane side at the State Netball Centre.
The 170cm goal defence said it was a tough game; six girls “hit the deck”.
At the end of the match, Ashley said she approached her 15-year-old opponent with stretched out arm for the traditional handshake.
Ashley said that as she went to walk away the Brisbane player took a strong hold of her hand and twisted it.
Ashley said she reacted on instinct. She lashed out at the goal attack with a fist to the face and fractured her nose.
“I really regret it. As soon as I did it I just walked away with my head down and went to sit in the corner away from everyone,” said the then Keebra Park High student following the incident.
“I didn’t even get a chance to say sorry.
“But I am sorry for what I’ve done and I know I shouldn’t have done it. I’ve never done that before.
“It was the first punch I’d ever thrown.
“But after that physical game we had . . . I was just so angry about what happened on court and then when she (twisted my arm), I didn’t even think about it, (the punch). It was just a reaction.
“I just did it.”
The Southport Sharks Jaguars President’s Cup team, the Gold Coast’s premier under-19s team, may have been the last netball team Ashley played for.
Her dreams of making the Queensland team and her aspirations to play for Australia, or don the green and gold in the Commonwealth Games, had been shattered.
She also played touch football, but it would not replace the role netball had played in her life.
Ashley’s mum Claire was shocked by her daughter’s ban.
“What I find very unfair is Ashley has been handed a suspension before she’s even been found guilty of anything,” said Ms Dayberg at the time.
“(The family) is not saying what she did was right. It was not the right response, but her case was never fairly heard.
“She has never tried to deny punching her and this kind of reaction from Netball Queensland is harsh”
“Ashley has been playing netball since she was nine years old and said she could not grasp the fact she would not put on her blue and gold strip again until at least 2006.
“I’ve been really upset. I nearly cried, but I think I’m just too annoyed at the moment to cry.
“I keep thinking about it, thinking ‘what if’. I’ve been thinking about it all day.”
She said she did not condone her actions and she expected to suffer some repercussions.
“I just thought they’d be about four to six weeks.
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“That’s what I’ve heard some other girls have copped for the same thing.”
Netball Queensland, which in 2003 handed down a six-week suspension for a ‘slap’ which occurred at the state titles, denied at the time of banning Ashley as ‘an example’.
Business manager Phil Trenorden said at the time netball was a non-contact sport and the administration and players wanted it to stay that way.
“It is a severe penalty,” he said.
“But we don’t want (our sport) to reach that kind of level, not like other sports.
“Everyone has been talking about it and they just don’t believe it could happen.
“It just doesn’t happen in netball and there is no place for it in the future.
“I would think, if a similar incident occurred next year, the same penalty would occur.’’
Ashley’s coach, Kate Gardiner, was disheartened to see such a ‘young, talented’ player handed such a hard sentence.
“I’ve been coaching for over 30 years and this is the first time I’ve ever known (that sort of violence) to take place on the court,” said Ms Gardiner.
“She is a good player, one of the key players in the team and she will be sorely missed.
“It’s very distressing for Ashley and for the team and, while I can’t condone her actions, I think she’s been very severely dealt with.”
BRAWL IN NON-CONTACT SPORT (2002)
AN all-in brawl involving more than 20 touch footballers and spectators at Owen Park was ‘a disgrace to the game’, a senior administrator said in 2002.
Touch Football Association South Queensland and Border Districts regional officer Gary Shepherd said the brawl was the worst he had seen in any sport.
The fight stopped play for 10 minutes in the second half of a men’s Division 1 semi-final between the Dodgers and the Freestylerz.
Police were not called.
One Freestylerz player was sent off after the fight - an automatic two-match suspension.
He and two other players, a teammate and an opponent, were to face the Gold Coast Touch Football Association’s judiciary.
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The teams were due to meet again in the grand final the next weekend if Freestylerz won their midweek clash. Mr Shepherd said at the time the player originally targeted, Dodgers’ centre Adam Falzon, ‘copped an absolute hiding’.
“It seemed to be a case of personalities and off-field differences being settled on the field,” he said in 2002.
“It was war.”
Mr Falzon said the brawl was ‘pretty full-on’.
“The first person to hit me in the face was one of my best friends, but we haven’t spoken since the brawl.
“He used to play for us, then he went to the Freestylerz.”
Mr Falzon said he was not sure what caused the brawl, but many of the Freestylerz team were from New Zealand.
When asked if there was some Kiwi-Aussie rivalry, he said: ‘Yeah, there was some of that’.
Mr Falzon said three stitches were inserted in his chin after the fight and he had several bruises.
Dodgers player Pat Grehan said the Freestylerz had been planning trouble before the game. “They were planning a stink and there was lot of niggledy stuff. They were trying to put us off our game, but it didn’t work,” he said.
He said one Freestylerz player, who was on the sidelines, ran 30 metres to join the brawl.
Under touch football rules, each team had six players on the field and up to eight reserves.
The Dodgers won 7-5 to go through to the grand final.
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