Disgusted Lyndale Football Club president forfeits last two games of season

ONE suburban Melbourne football club is so appalled by the behaviour of its own players, it has taken a drastic step to prevent any further on-field incidents.

A SOUTHERN Football Netball League club has taken an extraordinary stand against poor player behaviour by pulling out of the competition for the rest of the season.

North Dandenong club Lyndale has told the league it will forfeit its final two matches in seniors and reserves in Division 4.

It followed an incident on Saturday in which a Lyndale player was felled against Sandown.

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It sparked fighting among players and the umpires called off the game before half time.

Lyndale president Ed McLean described the scene as “bedlam’’.

“It didn’t take much for it to go from a report against a player to the umpires going off the ground,’’ he said. “I applaud the fact they did that.’’

The previous week a Southern women’s match was also abandoned due to fighting.

“We’ve been chatting to the Southern league about a few ongoing issues, not just in regards to us, but other clubs in the competition, and in the end we decided after last Saturday to forfeit our senior men’s team and the reserves for the rest of the year, just to ensure nothing else takes place,’’ McLean said this morning.

Lyndale president Ed McLean has cracked down on bad player behaviour.

“It’s something that needs to be done. There have been just too many incidents in Division 4 … they just pile up and it’s not a good look for our club and it’s not a good look for the league.

“I’m not saying I’ve got any players out there doing thug acts or anything like that but things are building up. It’s time the members of our club take a stand and say, ‘Listen, enough is enough, we’re going to forfeit and take ownership of this’. Because we’ve got players who aren’t always on their best behaviour and conducting themselves as we expect them to.’’

McLean said the incident against Sandown was “the straw that broke the camel’s back’’.

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He said committee members had discussed it on Sunday and Monday and informed the league last night that Lyndale was withdrawing.

McLean said the stance would cost the club financially because it would lose a home game “but we think enough is enough’’.

“It will have an impact. We know that. Guys are going to miss out on a game of footy. But we’re going to take this stand. The behaviour isn’t good enough, and we’ve been part of it. We’ve had two players in the past three weeks reported for abusing the umpire, and that’s not acceptable. So we have to try to stop it.’’

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McLean said local football was there to be enjoyed “and you can’t do that if two clubs are bashing the suitcases out of each other with the crowd going off’’.

“We need to re-set,’’ he said.

McLean, who played his 300th game for Lyndale earlier in the season, said he wanted the Pumas to be known as an open and inclusive community sports club that played hard but fair.

“Minor incidents here, there and everywhere, it doesn’t take much for a club to get a reputation for being a bunch of thugs,’’ he said.

“I hope the rest of the competition understands the message and doesn’t assume the league has asked us to withdraw. It’s a decision made solely by us.’’

Southern league chief executive Mike Palmer said he supported Lyndale and no action would be taken against the club for forfeiting the fixtures.

He said the Pumas’ committee had showed “great leadership and had been incredibly proactive’’ in tackling bad player behaviour.

“They’ve obviously had some challenges. They’ve been involved in some incidents. I think Ed’s decided it’s time to regroup,’’ Palmer said.

He said Division 4, which was created this year, had been marred by poor behaviour.

“We’ve certainly had a number of incidents, a number of them pretty unsavoury. Clearly, it needs to stop. That’s a priority.’’

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