A 34-year-old Seaford man is expected to be charged for allegedly throwing a plate of food at a woman and child during last week’s AFL preliminary final between Hawthorn and Brisbane.
He is expected to be charged on summons with aggravated unlawful assault and discharge a missile.
Police have interviewed the man and another 56-year-old Tullamarine man, who was identified after allegedly throwing a bottle onto the MCG’s field of play at the conclusion of the match.
The Tullamarine man has been fined $418 under the Major Events Act.
He is the second man to be fined after security detained a 40-year-old Croydon man for throwing a bottle onto the field of play, before he was spoken to by police.
Bottles and cans were thrown onto the field after the game, including some aimed at the umpires as they walked off the MCG after a holding-the-ball decision by field umpire Hayden Meyer against Jarman Impey that gave Brisbane a go-ahead goal with 18 seconds remaining.
Umpire says he felt ‘threatened’ by Hawks duo
Sicily and Barrass (number 37) were seen having words with Meyer (left) immediately following the final siren. (AFL)
Meyer, who will officiate in this weekend’s AFL grand final, was confronted by Hawthorn captain James Sicily and defender Tom Barrass in the aftermath of his decision.
He said he had received an apology from Barrass but was still waiting to hear from Sicily.
“The abuse that came my way, I felt threatened,” Meyer told reporters on Wednesday.
“I expressed exactly that [to the AFL] — the language, and the way that those two players, James [Sicily] and Tom [Barrass], came at me, I felt threatened and intimidated in that situation.
“So I spoke to [umpires boss] Steve McBurney the day after and gave my view of the situation, and how I felt and what occurred, and he then transferred that to Swanny [AFL football boss Greg Swann] and the MRO to eventually come up with a decision around the fines.
“[Barrass] was very apologetic and very sincere in his apology. I accepted his apology and thanked him for taking the time out of his day to give me a call.”
Meyer says Sicily (pictured) is yet to apologise for abusing him on the final siren. (Getty Images: Quinn Rooney)
Meyer refused to make a call on whether the Hawks pair, who were fined over their actions, should be suspended instead.
“That’s out of my control, that’s not my decision … I suppose what I take from it is that it’s not a great look for junior umpires and kids that are sitting on the couch that we want to recruit into umpiring,” he said.
“They see that after the game on the weekend and, if I’m sitting on the couch, I’d be like, ‘Do I really want to go to my local umpiring community group and sign up to be an umpire?’
“That was the big disappointing thing for me, that we struggle with umpiring recruitment in local communities, and that doesn’t help.“
Despite the protestations from Hawthorn fans, Impey admitted the umpires made the right call.
“It was the right decision,” he told the Kick It Forward podcast at the Brownlow Medal on Monday night.
“Naturally, when you think there are 30-40 seconds to go, you try and hold it in go from there, but credit to Hayden.
“I hope there was no hate message towards him, so sending love to him.”
Jarman Impey (left) admitted the umpires had made the right call in penalising him for holding the ball in the final seconds. (Getty Images: Josh Chadwick)
Ahead of this weekend’s grand final, Meyer pleaded for fans to not “cross the line” again.
“I’ve never experienced bottles being thrown at me post-game. It was pretty scary, to be honest, and I hope it never happens again in any game, any sport,” he said.
“[To fans attending the grand final], I would say be passionate, cheer for your team, but respect others, respect the people you’re sitting next to, respect the umpires — have fun, but don’t cross the line.”
Police are continuing to make enquiries regarding the fan behaviour during and after the match.
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