Two spectators who attacked players at a Sydney rugby union final last weekend have been banned from the sport, their penalties reduced in return for community service.
One of the men tried to hit a player while the other dragged a player to the boundary fence during a brawl in the Shute Shield elimination final at Pittwater Rugby Park where Gordon beat Warringah 27-10 last Saturday.
The men, aged 50 and 37, both from Sydney’s northern beaches, fronted a hearing with NSW Rugby and Warringah Rugby officials on Friday morning.
NSW Rugby CEO Jim L’Estrange said the men realised the seriousness of what they had done and willingly came forward to accept punishment and because of this lengthy bans were partially suspended.
“By requiring both men to perform a period of service to rugby, we are ensuring these men give something positive back to the game which they took so negatively onto the television screens and newspaper pages of Australia for the past seven days,” L’Estrangfe said.
The man who attempted to hit a player was given a five-year ban, with three years suspended in return for doing 100 hours of service to the game.
The other was banned for three years, two of which were suspended for 50 hours of service.
“We considered a variety of options including life bans, however we determined that we needed to hand down a sentence which struck a balance,” L’Estrange said.
Yikes
Guest
Neither Gordon nor Harvey wanted to press charges. So I assume further police action was unlikely.
captain nemo
Roar Guru
i think the word proactive comes to mind when reading this. The judiciary are trying to get something positive out of this. I suppose these two clowns have no more warnings left so where it goes from here is up to them. If I was on the judiciary, one condition i would of insisted on is that if anything illegal occurred, the police take the appropriate actions and not sweep it under the carpet, and secondly, as part of accepting what they have done, they are named.
Bay35Pablo
Roar Guru
And as for coming forward - um, they were on ABC TV. How long before someone identified them? Just anticipating the inevitable.
Bay35Pablo
Roar Guru
Um, what about criminal charges? Why is it once you get near a footy field everyone thinks assault isn't a crime but a risk everyone assumes? And from the video I saw, it didn't look like the 2nd bloke "attempted" to hit him, it looked like he connected. What's the bet there was the usual player not saying he got hit to try to damp it all down? Laudable, but avoids dealing with the issue. OK, I don't want these numb nuts thrown in gaol or their lives ruined, but I still feel the penalties were a bit light on. How about having to do a nudie down George Street - that'd be a disincentive ... :)
Wally James
Guest
The rugby community service idea is a fabulous one. Hats off to the Judiciary who heard the matter. The penalty sends out a warning of general deterence because of the length of suspensions but shows leniency for putting something into the game. Too often we hear criticism of judiciaries, whether warranted or not. In this instance I give credit where it is due. Well done.
LeftArmSpinner
Roar Guru
sensible outcome. I really liked the way the crowd and other players chased and caught them. But, on a lighter note, The Gordon second rower involved in the intial altercation pleaded that he was just concerned not to hurt the smaller Rats player. It was priceless and, given that attention was more focused on the spectators, the Gordon player got away with it............... cute......