Nauseating cowardly blow leads to all-in brawl in Aussie Rules match in Victorian country, but fans are divided over who was wrong
- Incident occurred in MPFNL Div 2 match
- Tyabb Yabbies played Rye Demons
- The tensions boiled over into a tense match
Violence has marred a Victorian bushfooty match after an apparent cowardly punch led to a wild all-in brawl.
The Tyabb Yabbies and the Rye Demons faced each other in the first round of the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League [MPFNL] Division Two Seniors competition when the incident happened.
With the Yabbies leading by just three points in the third quarter, tensions boiled over and punches were thrown that sent a Rye Demons game off.
In the video, Tyabb player Samuel Fox stands up from the ground protesting perceived foul play and appears to throw an open-handed swipe at Rye player Mason James.
James then landed a devastating blow to the side of Fox’s head, which immediately collapsed to the floor.
Players start fighting in Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League match as Fox stays on the ground to check his mouth after being punched in the head
While players cannot be sent off at the AFL level, a yellow and red card system applies in the MPFNL and the on-field umpire did not hesitate to give James a yellow card.
‘Good referee, it should be red’, you hear a fan shout from the sidelines.
“Cowardly blow.”
The video garnered a lot of attention on social media with many footy fans claiming that the Tyabb player was also wrong in throwing the first punch.
“Are your eyes painted on the other dude who threw the first punch,” one fan posted.
“Don’t hit someone on the back of the head while on deck,” another posted.
“To be fair, they’re both cowards,” added another.
Some football fans say that the Tyabb player threw the first punch while the players were on the ground
As the players got up and took to the field, Rye Demons player Mason James threw a punch that knocked the Tyabb player to the ground
The incident comes just a week after another MPNFL Division 2 game had to be called off after a player was out cold.
Reuben Hanson, a 19-year-old ruckman for Karingal, suffered a suspected broken collarbone and was taken off in a tackle just before half-time in a game against Mornington at Alexandra Park.
Medical attention was required and the game was delayed for over an hour while an ambulance arrived to transport Hanson to Frankston Hospital.
The umpires made the decision to abandon the game with Mornington leading 22-19 over Karingal.