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Hooliganism tarnishes Good Friday clash

A touch judge is hit by a bottle at the end of the match between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
Expert
3rd April, 2015
161
2839 Reads

Instead of talking about a tremendous contest between two of the most exciting teams in the competition, we are discussing hooliganism following the behaviour of a minority of Canterbury Bulldogs fans at Friday Night’s game.

For those of you who missed the game between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Canterbury Bulldogs, it was a game filled with controversy.

The controversy started in the 39th minute when Sam Kasiano, attempting to prevent Issac Luke from scoring a try, kneed Luke in the face, leading to an eight-point try being awarded.

This was only a teaser for what was to come.

With less than a minute and a half remaining, Bulldogs captain James Graham was put on report for taking out Souths halfback Adam Reynolds in his attempt at a field goal. This led to a penalty right in front for Souths, which pushed them across the line in a very tight game.

There is debate whether the correct decision was made by the officials. To be honest, I don’t care, because what happened next made my jaw drop.

Following the game, a small number of Bulldogs fans began throwing bottles at the match officials, leading to one official being taken to hospital with a suspected broken shoulder. The match officials were hurried off the field very quickly before anyone else was hurt.

The behaviour of the minority has not only tarnished the reputation of Canterbury Bulldogs but has tarnished our game’s image.

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It is simply unacceptable.

Sometimes things go your way and at other times they do not, particularly when it comes to refereeing. Mistakes are made. This is simply part of the game.

Yet the way David Klemmer spoke to the officials following Graham’s penalty was unacceptable, and he absolutely should have been sent off. And the way some fans reacted was disgusting.

I feel sorry for the Bulldogs. They have worked extremely hard in rebranding themselves as a family club. Led by Raelene Castle and a series of exemplary players, the Bulldogs have become a team which I have come to respect on and off the field.

For the club to have to apologise for the acts of a few hooligans is extremely disappointing. It is not the responsibility of Des Hasler or Raelene Castle to have to apologise for the behaviour of these people and it is embarrassing that this is what we will be talking about for the rest of the week.

There are also reports of fighting in the stands between Rabbitohs and Bunnies fans being investigated.

We often speak about our players and the example which we would like them to set to young fans and the community as a whole. But this needs to start with us as fans. We need to demonstrate decent behaviour as representatives of the game we love.

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The people involved in tonight’s disgusting display should be handed bans for a significant length of time – it needs to be clearly signalled that this sort of behaviour is not going to be tolerated.

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