‘Dangerous’: Pitch invader lights flare, interrupts NRL game

The NRL game between the Sharks and Tigers was interrupted by a pitch invader, who let off a flare and sparked “ridiculous” scenes.

The Cronulla Sharks’ dominant win over the Wests Tigers on Sunday afternoon has been overshadowed by a second NRL pitch invasion in as many days.

The Sharks thrashed the Tigers 30-4 at Shark Park but the game was interrupted during the second half when an intruder ran on to the field and let off a flare.

Security guards patrolling the game were extremely slow to react as the pitch invader ran straight towards the Tigers players, who were midway through a set of six.

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Play was paused for several minutes as the intruder was tackled to the ground, while orange smoke billowed from the flare.

The overwhelming consensus among viewers was the pitch invasion was a bad look for rugby league.

“This is ridiculous,” commentator Andrew Voss said on Fox League.

“A bloke has run on with a flare for crying out loud. Well this is outrageous.

“Where’s the security here? If ever a bloke deserved to be driven in a tackle, this is the bloke.

“How are you meant to deal with intruders? You have no idea what they may have or not have. The quicker you deal with them the better.

“This is a first. I’ve never seen an intruder at a rugby league game with a flare mid-field.

“This is quite extraordinary pictures coming from the home of the Sharks.

That’s the most spark we’ve seen from the Tigers all season. Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images.

Cop that. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

“This is quite a hold up here. 20-0 scoreline and not what we need or want. No one’s laughing now.

NRL great Greg Alexander added: “What a goose.

“There’s no Olympic sprinters among the security is there.

“Just go and put him in jail.”

And there's pyro at Shark Park. Can't figure out what the shirt says but gee whiz that's dangerous. #NRLSharksTigerspic.twitter.com/6KrOwUkGX0

— Adrian Arciuli (@Adrian_Arciuli) April 10, 2022

A second intruder also made their way onto the field and made a beeline for a security guard and sent him crashing to the turf with a brutal tackle.

NRL fans are built different.

Pitch invader 1, security guard zero.

The invaders were eventually dragged off and the game was allowed to continue.

The Tigers’ dismal season continued against the Sharks and some fans joked the flare was the most spark they had seen from them all season.

A distress flare at at Tigers game is finally correct usage.

— Stuart Randall (@StuartRandall) April 10, 2022

The loss was the Tigers’ fifth of the season as they languish in dead last on the NRL ladder with zero wins to their name.

The Tigers didn’t look like troubling the scorers at all until Ken Maumalo crossed for a consolation try in the 79th minute.

It was the second time this weekend a pitch invader had interrupted an NRL game.

Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses couldn’t believe his eyes when a female streaker ran onto Cbus Stadium during the Eels’ win over the Gold Coast Titans.

She was swiftly tackled by a security card in a monster hit that went viral on social media.