Toby Greene faces jail time over post-game clash

RISING Giants star Toby Greene is the third AFL player this year to face the possibility of jail time.

RISING Giants star Toby Greene is the third AFL player this year to face the possibility of jail time after being charged with serious criminal offences relating to a ­vicious assault in Melbourne on Monday night.

Greene was among a party drinking at Zagame’s Hotel in Caulfield after attending the clash between Carlton and St Kilda at Etihad Stadium when he became involved in an altercation with a bouncer.

It is believed the incident happened after the security guard approached a member of the party about urinating outside the hotel on Derby Road.

Greene and a co-accused allegedly intervened and kicked, punched and struck the guard, who was taken to the Alfred Hospital with facial injuries.

The 20-year-old, who was in Melbourne visiting family as Greater Western Sydney has the bye this week, was arrested and then bailed to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 25.

The third-year Giants player faces counts of intentionally ­causing serious injury, recklessly ­causing injury, affray, assault in company, assault by kicking,­ assault with a weapon, unlawful assault, making threats to ­inflict serious injury, being drunk in a public place and criminal damage

A co-accused, a 19-year-old from East Malvern, faces nine charges.

Greater Western Sydney acknowledged the matter, but there is no word yet on whether Greene will be stood down. “The club is taking the matter very seriously and has no further comment to make at this stage,” it said.

AFL football operations manager Mark Evans last night said the league was awaiting further information before making a call  on whether Greene should be allowed to continue playing. “It is certainly a serious rap sheet.” he told 3AW radio.

News of the charges against Greene came as rugby league star Mitchell Pearce was fined $20,000 and stood down for one match after a boozy night out in Sydney’s Kings Cross last weekend.

Pearce’s fate was decided yesterday by his club the Sydney Roosters and the NRL integrity unit after the woman at the centre of the investigation — believed to be Melissa Arroja, who outed herself as the woman in the yellow dress on Facebook and Instagram — informed police on Monday night that she did not want to push ahead with a formal complaint against the NSW halfback.

Pearce had faced an anxious 72 hours since he was arrested and placed in handcuffs outside the Beach Haus nightclub in Kings Cross in the early hours of Sunday morning for failing to leave a licensed premise when required.

It later emerged that he had approached a woman inside the nightclub who had resented his advances and complained to police.