It was a sorry state of affairs at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon, when the Grand Final of the Ron Massey Cup erupted into a vicious all-in brawl.
The Entrance Tigers and the Mount Pritchard Mounties had played 35 minutes of the match, when Mounties’ second rower Kurt Horton ignited the melee.
The Tigers’ Alan Munro and Ryan Jowett appear to have given Horton some special treatment after completing the tackle, and the burly back rower reacted to the working-over with quick-fire right jabs.
Mayhem ensued, with players from both sides joining the fracas. Numerous spot fires flared up before being doused by the cool heads of the referees.
Notably, at one point two Mounties were seen pushing a Tigers player across the presentation dais, while the Entrance man was caught somewhere between kneeling and sitting on his backside.
The brawl was equal-parts bark and bite, and when the dust had settled, Munro, Jowett, Horton and the quick-to-defend-his-mate Wayne Dargan were all sin binned. Many other players were fortunate to escape such treatment.
The Ron Massey Cup is a semi-professional tournament run jointly by the NSWRL and Country Rugby League. It is aimed at developing rugby league talent in New South Wales, but based on the footage in the video, it might be just as efficient at developing talent in another sport.
The Entrance went on to win the match 22-18. A golden point extra time try to Mulia Malau was enough to seal the victory for the Tigers.
However, the match was not reported around the globe for its high-quality football. The video of the brawl made the rounds online, taking special hold in the US, who are themselves no stranger to all-in sporting brawls.
US-based SB Nation reported: “There have been sports fights before, we’ve even seen rugby fights in the past – but this is the first we’ve seen that happened during a grand final and more importantly, ended up with someone getting choked on the stage set up for the award ceremony.”
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