Richmond’s Marlion Pickett reacts after AFL fan makes contact

A spectator at Marvel Stadium has got too close for comfort and drawn a swift response from Richmond’s Marlion Pickett on Friday night.

Marlion Pickett interacts with a fan at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

Marlion Pickett reacted very quickly after a supporter reached out and made contact with the Richmond player on Friday night.

With the Tigers being heavily beaten in the third quarter of the big clash with the Western Bulldogs, a member of the crowd surrounded by Dogs fans reached out and tapped Pickett a series of times on his left shoulder with his back turned.

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Pickett immediately swung around and had words with the man, knocking his drink down as the supposed fan appeared to point towards the scoreboard.

Security was also quickly on the scene and Pickett was seen chatting with Tigers official Tim Livingstone during the final break.

A fan leaned over the fence to make contact with Marlion Pickett in the third quarter.

PSA: If you're in the crowd, please don't ever do this #AFLDogsTigerspic.twitter.com/jk7p3XVMdP

— 7AFL (@7AFL) August 4, 2023

“There was a very interesting incident in the third quarter,” Channel 7 sideline reporter Abby Holmes said.

“(Marcus) Bontempelli had just kicked his third goal and you can see there Marlion Pickett with a member in the crowd - (Pickett) got grabbed and straight away reacted, knocked his drink off.

“But you don’t like to see that, crowd in attendance can never touch players in that way.

“Tim Livingstone with his hand around Marlion Pickett just to make sure he’s OK. You don’t see that very often in AFL.

“(The fan) just tapped him on the back. That is absolutely not on. Security was straight there on the scene.”

Marlion Pickett interacts with a fan at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.

Hawthorn premiership player Jordan Lewis said during the match the fan should be banned for life.

“You never ever, ever, ever touch a player on the ground – I don’t care who you are,” he said.

“That fan right there should be banned for life.”

It was a belief a number of observers on social media agreed with.

Herald Sun and Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph said the AFL will review the footage before handing out any punishments.

“I’ve spoken to the league about this, they clearly will liaise with Richmond, they will follow up this incident where Marlion Pickett was touched, basically unprompted,” Ralph said.

“The league tells me it will get the security report from Marvel Stadium tomorrow, they want to know who the fan was, exactly what happened.

@AFL@marvelstadiumau Why hasn’t the supporter who had a go at Marlion Pickett been ejected from the ground? Are you waiting for Pickett to text that useless number that’s advertised?

— S Gardner-Drummond (@sgardnerdrummon) August 4, 2023

“The very strong message from the league tonight is that fans should not touch players under any circumstances.

“Marlion probably did well to try to knock his beer over and then he moved away.

“The security guard did the right thing here. You can pay your $25, you can cheer and you can shout, you just don’t reserve the right to do that one there.”

Pickett himself is no stranger to controversy, facing court in Perth in June and granted bail after he was charged with allegedly stealing more than $380,000 between December last year and January 2023.

He was stood down for the club’s round 14 match this season.

“It came as a bit of a shock,” Tigers CEO Brendon Gale said at the time.

“These are allegations. We’re going to operate on the presumption he’s innocent and justice will run its course. We think the best thing for him is to be back here, working hard.”

Originally published as Richmond’s Marlion Pickett reacts after AFL fan makes contact