Darwin Buffaloes player Tom Baulch banned for two weeks after mid-game beer in NTFL

In the last game of the season, losing by 100 points, with five minutes left in the game. Former Mackay footballer Tom Baulch could not wait to get the end-of-season fun started, and will miss two games because of it.

It is the mid-game drink that has the sporting world talking, but Tom Baulch will pay the price of peer pressure.

The 22-year-old footballer earned ‘ultimate ressies knighthood’ after accepting a beer in the last quarter of a Northern Territory Football League match at the weekend.

But Baulch, who spent 2021 on Aspley’s VFL list, was charged with serious misconduct following the incident and was directly referred to the tribunal.

He said he would miss the start of the 2022 season because of the stunt.

“I copped a two-week suspension because of the drink,” he said.

“The tribunal talked about five or six weeks, but they said that would interfere too much with any footy I want to play down south.”

The former Mackay City Hawks premiership player now lives in Noosa, where he runs his professional training business, Prime Training.

Baulch shot down claims the stunt was done to build his social media presence, with the footballer boasting a TikTok account with more than 160,000 followers.

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“I actually didn’t know the guy who gave me the beer,” he said.

“The ball was down the other end of the ground, we were down by 100 points and there was five minutes left in the match.

“Some random guy ran out a beer and I felt like I had to indulge the crowd a little and have a little fun with the fans.

“People on social media keep saying I did it for marketing or social media, which is just not true.

“The crowd were shouting out ‘prime’ when he ran it out to me, so obviously my social following is what led to people coming out to the games and give me beers during the match.”

Darwin Buffaloes ultimately lost the match against Southern Districts in the NTFL, with the final score showing 27.11 (173) to 14.3 (87).

Baulch will not return to Aspley in 2022 after the club lost its VFL licence.

He said he hoped the sip of beer would not hurt his chances finding a new home for the upcoming season.

“I don’t know where I’ll play my footy this season,” he said.

“I’m down in Melbourne at the moment but obviously want to play in the VFL up in Queensland.

“I haven’t made a decision on where I’ll play my footy next season, but I hope my suspension won’t affect my chance at a club.”

Originally published as Darwin Buffaloes player Tom Baulch banned for two weeks after mid-game beer in NTFL