Manly beat Storm as brawls erupt [video]

Buck E. Craig, come on mate, what are you on about?! My mate once got 'love tapped' by this oaf of a bouncer... There's no such thing as a 'love tap', let's call it what it is: a punch to the head. Having said that, it's not the worst thing I've ever seen in League.... Nonetheless, the players deserved to be punished accordingly...

Bloody oath , one outs are ALLGOOD But when others join that's a sign of COWARDNESS, Stewart & Blair were fine , just afew love taps SEeesh

To be honest I have seen worse recently. A newcastle player copping a boot to the head which did injure him and a titan player receiving a kick to the chest both of which had high potential for dangerous, possibly fatal consequences. I don't condone what happened on the night in terms of players rushing in but if you carry out a similar act earlier - Blair on Lussick, and you do initiate another fight you have to expect it will be returned in kind. I can tell you if either of my siblings was in a similar situation I would have reacted the way Brett Stewart acted. Blood is thicker than water and when emotions are heated you don't stop to think, you react, that is human nature - to defend your own and reflect on it later. Bretts actions were as bad as the others but not worse. In fact Blair hitting Lussick from behind was worse. A punch to the jaw when someone is not expecting it can also have bad consequences. I am neither a Manly or a Melbourne fan but I did expect a highly emotion charged match and that is why this blew up. This situation was blown way out of the water - there have been far worse sideline brawls in other sports but because it is league and the 2 most hated teams, everyone overreacts. It wasn't a good look for league but neither are head high tackles, elbows to faces, neck injuries, chicken wings etc. The only reason I can see for the attitude towards Brett Stewart is his reaction to how he was treated in the last couple of years- his reaction given his situation is reasonable and understandable to those who actually take the time to walk a mile in another's shoes - no one gets over what he went through in five minutes, it will take him a long time to deal with it so those who have issues with him get over it and grow up - I hope that if you go through some sort of trauma that you get better support than what he received.

sledgeandhammer, it's not the case of confusing the sports, it's the case that most countries don't even know about League and assume you are talking about a Rugby Union 'league' as in the EPL premier league.

Backtracked again oikee? Geez wizz, who'd have thought.

Come on Oiks - you know too well that I'm a loyal Saints fan. Though I am beginning to wonder where your hatred of Manly stems from. Enlighten me mate.

Yes, if your a Manly fan, that is exactly how it happened, for the rest of the world its all Manly's fault. :) BTW, nice to see you spent so much time looking at this through those nice rosey glasses you bought from Bondi. :)

I agree, but it was the players running in that most object, league fans know this can happen, its very tense and aggressive, and the players do well not to let it get to them, but third men in is always a issue. Anyhow, life moves on, we had another little dustup in the doggies game. :) Yippee.

Rambling Jackso maybe sometimes Jackson mate,just some of my posts are long posts. i'd like to think of my posts as detailed rather than rambling or alcohol fuelled lol. Gin i don't fancy aye scotch, or a irish or whisky or scotish whisky perhaps. no just joking i only drink beer sometimes i am light drinker and occasionally vodka or a rum and coke but basically just a water or an orange juice or soft drink for me or a gatorade after doing fitness. So i am basically boring. But i will check out shane mcgowan maybe he is a long lost brother i never never knew about hahaha, sometime i ramble but it is hard coz so many points trying to write as fast as possible in short time, and can't write a whle book on comments section don't have the time or energy. But i do like to ramble about sport like most blokes on sports blog wesbties do i like main event sport a lot, i only watch the big matches not the regular season matches much. loved tonight's win by the wallabies awesome good night to be an aussie mate.

Johnno, I don't mean to be rude mate, but just wondering: do you hit the gin before posting sometimes? Because your posts are rambling although make sense at times. I read Shane McGowan (of the Pogues) autobiography... there are striking similarities in your writing styles!

Hi posters, I suggest if a little fight in the toughtest game in the world was a little much for you to handle, switch to AFL and stop winging. Also, take a look back at the past 1000 brawls in league, everyone has people running in, only difference is they are normally closer so it doesn't look as bad. I suppose they should have just pulled up chairs and started betting on the fight!!!

no Brad I have fought in thai boxing professionally an retired now, elbow to the head,roundhouse shin kick to the temple can all kill mate,sick of keyboard tough guys who have never fought in the ring going " bring on the biff".mate that what sickens real trained fighters.wannabe tough guys who have never been elbowed in the nose and have it busted or kicked in the thigh saying how much they love violence?,mate if you do step in the ring and fight ,if i wanna watch football ill watch it if i wanna watch trained fighters pound each other ill go to Muay Thai fight

Me thinks both teams are in deep poo... may I suggest Manly loose 12 points and the Storm 8 points ... plus player with weeks off...

Well Mals yes my mistake it is tussock lol ii got the names wrong somehow stuff up on my part lol. Sorry . but i do like the professor of human movement line i am laughing a lot now very good call and funny. But on the point about Lussick got the right name , and Blair incident. The hit as i said before was still bad by blair apparently he was held. SO bad as well. But when a man comes inflying at 20 meters and coathnagers someone with no head gear or helmet oranything so dangerous if it connected like in the temple or something. Because running at pace you bring in more force at a collsion, and also being so unaware blair was about getting hit it was like running into a brick wall. Lussick would have had some reaction time. Watching fox sports highlights now and gee last nights brawl has caused a trickle down effect in all the matches tonight in rugby league and evn in the bledisloe to. Watching the highlights now from tonights rugby league matches a lot of fights and scuffles thats for sure. And as for my ramble I stand by what i said it was thug gaining up up on someone dangerous cowardly behaviour , fight 1` on 1 not 5 on 1 manly cowards, was so thuggish. Are you a Manly fan Mals you sound like one

Johnno are you a professor in human movement?!? Who is Tussock??? Are you referring to Lussick? Getting the player's name right might help your inarticulate and rambling story! The uppercut at short range that Blair (a thorough grub) hit Lussick with was much more dangerous than anything Brett Stewart attempted. Lussick's mouth was continually bleeding during the game he had to get stitches in his mouth after the game. What did Blair get medical treatment for exactly?

The full speed running fist to the head of Blair from Brett Stewart, while Blair is not aware it's coming is not a smother but a king hit that you see in Kings Cross on a Saturday night. If it connects it could do some serious damage.....

Agree, Sydney papers reported Hinchcliffe was at fault for the first, and Blair was at fault for the seocnd fight and the Storm bloke who came off the bench (about the 25th man in) should receive the longest suspension. What about B. Stewart with the dirty sniper king hit as third man in. NRL don't have the courage to discipline with the right punishment.

Maybe you should start watching AFL and its melees - BORING!

The reason they went after Blair was simply payback for his king hit earlier on when he raced in and threw a huge cheap shot on the Manly back rower fighting with Hinchliffe. Blair was not too concerned about the Manly player. LOL hate both Manly and Storm. C'mon Mighty Dragons!

Exactly WayneO, if this happened in Origin, people would have been raving about how good it was to see the passion back. Why should it be any different in the regular season?