Punches thrown as wild fight breaks out during police footy match
Mobile footage has captured an all-in brawl between two rugby league teams represented by Western Sydney police area commands.
The chaos ensued at St Marys Leagues Clubs between the Nepean Police Area Command and The Hills Police Area Command, as reported by The Daily Telegraph.
The footage of the off-duty policemen was posted to Penrith Police Rugby League’s Facebook page and has since been deleted.
The mobile phone footage showed the incident being sparked by a brutal tackle from a member of The Hills team.
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Players from Nepean Police Area Command didn’t take too kindly to the high shot and ran in to take aim at The Hills player.
Pushes and shoves quickly escalated to haymakers being thrown to the face and body in scenes similar to the infamous 'Cattledog' all-in biff during the 1997 State of Origin series.
In this video, shots can be seen clearly landing square to the chops.
Great way to lead by example.
The melee wasn’t restrained to the pitch either, with it spilling over to the sidelines.
Officials and volunteers had to step in to attempt to break up the violence.
The Daily Telegraph reports that former NRL referee Sean Hampstead was in charge of the match and somehow managed to quickly regain control of the proceedings.
It is understood that senior NSW Police officials were also present at the game.
The policemen involved were given a talking-to after the game by the higher-ups.
I mean, if that brawl happened on the streets of Western Sydney there’d be arrests upon arrests, but a little slap on the wrist will suffice for our boys in blue, right?
The game was being held as part of the ironically named ‘Mate v Mate’ tournament on the 16th of September.
It involved six teams from the northwestern Sydney suburbs.
A NSW Police spokesperson told the paper: “Violence is not acceptable at any time and the involved players have already been spoken with in regard to their behaviour during the match.”
Despite the incident, the Penrith Police Rugby League admins remained optimistic for the future of the tournament.
They wrote on Facebook: “Firstly, thanks to all the team managers for organising each team and the players turning up and having a go.
“Thank you to the referees who took time out of their day for the love of the game.”
Adding: “Already looking forward to next year and always looking for new Local Area Commands to enter a team.”
Topics: Australia, Rugby League, NRL
Jayden Collins