Katherine women’s footballer charged with aggravated assault following change rooms incident

A Katherine female footballer will face court after an incident in the change rooms following a preliminary final, leading to two 18-week bans.

The NT News is taking a stand against violence in sport in light of recent incidents across codes and genders, and age divisions.

This publication has spoken with community leaders pushing to change the language used in sport, speak to victims and reveal the impact violence has on players, their families and the wider community.

Katherine’s Big Rivers Football League saw a number of controversies on the sporting field in 2022.

Two football clubs were fined and several players and a runner suspended following a post-grand final brawl on September 3 between the Katherine Camels and the Ngukurr Bulldogs.

Some believe a lack of punishment from the league, following a three quarter time melee between both teams in the final round of the season, led to the incident at Katherine Showgrounds.

The Bulldogs have since apologised to the Camels for what happened on grand final day.

However, a week before the decider in the same competition, a Katherine South Crocs women’s footballer was charged after she allegedly threw a water bottle, and a punch, at an opposing Eastside player in their change rooms, after a preliminary final.

The 26-year-old was handed two 18-week bans over the incident from the league but will also face the Katherine Local Court in January charged with aggravated assault.

She is the fifth sportsperson to face court from four violent incidents between late June and late October this year.

Her Katherine-based mother Miliwanga Wurrben said the trouble started after her daughter laid an “ordinary tackle” on an opposing player.

Her daughter was then allegedly elbowed under the ribs, which left her “breathless”, Wurrben said.

A melee broke out after the Big Rivers Football League grand final. Picture: Supplied.

Wurrben, who was a spectator on the day, said another opposition player then grabbed her daughter by the jumper, pushed her and said words to the effect of “I’ll see you off the field”.

“It got to the stage where I wanted to jump over the fence and run towards her,” Wurrben said of the on-field incident.

“The umpires weren’t even looking back … to see the commotion.

“Nobody stopped it.”

After the game, she said her daughter went into Eastside’s change rooms to talk to both players and get a better understanding of what happened.

Wurrben said police attended the scene and later interviewed her daughter.

She said there needed to be more respect within sporting communities, from players for their opponents and for themselves.

“Whether it’s football, whether it’s soccer, whether it’s basketball,” she said.

“Respect each other, for who they are.”

She said her daughter now just wanted to forget about the incident and move on.

Eastside Football Club declined to comment, saying the matter was now before court.

It comes after AFLNT investigated reports of “behavioural issues” relating to alleged racial vilification following the Foundation Cup match on Australia Day match between Waratah and Wanderers earlier this year.

However, the outcome of that investigation was never made public.

The AFLNT said in an early statement it did not condone violence in sport and there had been a reduction in player reports that relate to incidents outside of general play across all grades.

Soccer clubs’ appeal against penalties delayed following court action

Two Darwin female soccer players will have to wait until September for their charges of assault to be heard in court.

Hellenic’s Paris and Joanna Makrylos will answer charges of assault in Darwin Local Court following a carpark brawl after a Women’s Premier League game on June 26.

That fracas, which police believe was an “escalation” after the match’s tensions, led to a raft of bans against five players, with one rubbed out for three years and a further two for two years each.

Eyewitnesses described the situation as a “big mess” with multiple scuffles breaking out after the game.

Several people told the NT News three women allegedly attacked a fourth female in the carpark, tearing off her head covering and ripping her dress down to her bra.

Football NT later announced it would hear an appeal from both clubs after court proceedings were completed.

However, it is now unclear when that appeal will be heard with a further 10 months before the matter returns to court.

In a statement to the NT News earlier this year, the peak body said the players’ behaviour was “detrimental to the good name of the game” and had brought the sport into disrepute, following an independent investigation.

Football NT chief executive Bruce Stalder says any behaviour that threatened a “safe environment for all its participants” had to be dealt with strongly. Picture: Justin Kennedy

Football NT chief executive Bruce Stalder said any behaviour that threatened a “safe environment for all its participants” had to be dealt with strongly.

“This behaviour will never be tolerated, it is unacceptable, unnecessary and in stark contrast to the values inherent in our game,” Stalder said.

Mr Stalder said all players could receive counselling and support, including potential enrolment in a community program to help with personal accountability and “behavioural flexibility”.

‘We want our kids to be safe’: Sports leaders take a stand

Anti-violence campaigner Charlie King who says good culture starts at the very top.

The esteemed broadcaster strongly believes that language around sport needs to change, with the No More campaigner presenting to NTFL presidents earlier this week about curbing violence in the game.

“There’s no room for ‘smash him’, ‘bash him’ and similar forms of ‘barracking’,” King said.

King agreed that it was important people of integrity were in charge of local sporting clubs.

“If you have a good person as the president, a person who understands and cares ... it goes right through the club,” he said.

“The danger is when those presidents move on and somebody else comes along, we call them dinosaurs, they don’t really support it.

“They believe in their hearts that clubs are there to win premierships and not anything else.

“The whole thing changes again.”

He said he believed sporting commentators needed to be retained and avoid using phrases like “they were belted today” or they “got whipped” or “annihilated”.

“Adults who barrack at sporting matches should have a think what a youngster is actually hearing and will likely grow to emulate,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tiwi Bombers coach Brenton Toy agreed that coaches and sporting leaders had a responsibility to send a “very strong message” that the game is to be enjoyed and not a vehicle for violence.

“We want our kids to be safe, we don’t want our kids to turn away, whether they are our own kids or it’s the opposition’s,” Toy said.

“We’ve got a responsibility as coaches and leaders to send a really strong message.”

He said times had changed and encouraging aggressive acts was not the right way to go.

“(Leaders) encourage their players, even in younger ages, if you get a chance to hit em you hit em,” he said.

“And if you hurt em, you can.

“That kind of language doesn’t stack up anymore.”

Fortunately, he said there had been a “shift in the mindset of coaching” but more work had to be done.

“(Violence) shouldn’t be happening at senior level, but it’s happening throughout our junior grades,” he said.

“We really need to change our language about how we look at aggression and violence and what it’s doing to our young people … the effect it’s having on them.

“We need to change the psychology of how we look at it.

“It’s not good for the game if we have kids turning away because they’re scared of getting hurt.

“And if the adults are doing it, guess who the kids are watching?”

Brenton Toy instructs his Tiwi Bombers against Darwin Buffaloes. Picture: Celina Whan/AFLNT Media.

Toy said there was never any excuse for aggression which overtly tried to hurt somebody, physically or mentally.

However, he feared there had been an escalation in violence across society, “whether it’s in Mitchel Street, whether it’s in community, whether it’s in schools”.

“I don’t know if it’s a sport problem, it’s a society problem,” he said.

“That is probably highlighted through the lens of sport, magnified, maybe, because we’re so interested in sport.

“It’s a lot of things, certainly Covid could be one (cause).

“Drugs and alcohol, they’re responses to symptoms, they’re not actually the cause, they’re people’s coping mechanisms, violence is people’s outlet.

“What’s at the heart of all of that? There’s a lot more to it than just footy I think.”

Taking a stand: Campaign to end violence in NT sport

A recent spike in sporting violence, on and off the field, has prompted several Territory football coaches and an anti-violence campaigner to speak out and call on clubs to commit to safer cultures.

There have been six incidents between late June and late October with three currently the subject of court proceedings.

A Katherine football league player was banned for 18 weeks following a changeroom incident while a post-grand final brawl, in the same competition, is also still being probed by peak body AFLNT, three months after the fracas involving spectators.

It comes nearly two years after two female St Mary’s footballers were assaulted outside TIO Stadium in February, 2021, following an Under 18s fixture

Tiwi Bombers player Brayden Puruntatameri is expected to front court on Bathurst Island on a charge of assault following a pre-game incident on October 29 at Wurrumiyanga.

Puruntatameri allegedly lashed out at coaches after not being included in the final 22 to play PINT.

A few hours later on that very same day, police were called to Nightcliff Oval after Waratah player Naomi Celebre headbutted Nightcliff’s Hannah Turnbull in the first quarter.

Celebre, a VFLW player with Darebin, has been charged with assault and will face Darwin Local Court in February next year.

Turnbull’s coach, Shannon Millar, admitted it gave her “goosebumps” to re-watch the vision of the incident, leaving her wondering: “How did that happen?”

Turnbull, the team’s captain, took several games off as she dealt with the impact of concussion.

“She felt very vulnerable in that moment,” Millar said.

“She shouldn’t be made to feel like that in a place where she’s going out to enjoy the sport she loves with some of her best friends.

“No person or child should be made to feel like that on any field, (whether it be) football, netball, soccer.

“Everyone should feel confident to go out and play sport.”

Millar said the six incidents had highlighted an ongoing issue in Territory sport.

“I don’t think it’s getting worse but I also don’t think it’s getting better,” Millar said of violence surrounding sport in the Top End.

“I just don’t think we’re seeing a huge improvement overall.”

She said it would take all stakeholders to commit to cultural change at club level, including players, coaches, volunteers, support staff, supporters and parents.

Millar said she had recently witnessed a runner making comments towards an umpire in an Under 16 match, as further evidence of behaviour that was getting out of hand.

She said she did her best to create a safe place for all players where overt aggression, even verbals, were not tolerated.

Millar said she was also committed to changing the language around sport, from the traditional messages of “let’s smash em” to the more fair “let’s play hard footy”.

“It has to happen from everybody … if we can get a few key people to lead it, set a really good example and try to change that mindset, hopefully the culture in sport will change in general,” she said.

“You can still be competitive and not physically hurt somebody.”

An AFLNT spokeswoman said “there is no place for violence in our game”.

“Year to date the NTFL competition is recording a reduction in player reports that relate (to) incidents outside of general play, across all grades,” the spokeswoman said.

“As of Round 9 there were 24 player reports in the 2021/22 season and we currently have 26 player reports in the 2022/23 season, with a reduction in player reports that relate incidents outside of general play, across all grades.

“Thirteen reports to 20 reports (compared to) this time last season.”