Gill McLachlan says AFL has no plans to segregate fans after brawl at Cats, Demons game

Mick Stirling

•
Gill McLachlan says AFL has no plans to segregate fans after brawl at Cats, Demons game image

Yet another ugly brawl at an AFL game has turned the eye on crowd behaviour, but AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has ruled out any chance of segregating groups of supporters in an effort to curb the violence.

A number of incidents this year have been filmed and posted on social media, leading to concerns crowd behaviour is deteriorating, but McLachlan is adamant the mingling of fans is not a problem.

“(Segregation is) not happening,” McLachlan told Triple M’s Hot Breakfast on Monday morning.

“We have seven million people go to our game… everyone gets on famously. It’s a part of our game, sitting with opposition supporters, we’re able to do it the right way and have a great time.

MORE: Buddy's massive sledge fail against Gold Coast | Longmire says Swans 'copped a whack'

“I’m incredibly proud generally that we can have such a highly supported, passionate game where people can go with supporters of the opposition, and segregation is not happening.”

Concerns about crowd violence hit the headlines in regards to graphic footage from a post-match incident on the terraces at GMHBA Stadium following Geelong’s after-the-siren win against Mellbourne on Saturday night.


It was a second last-gasp loss to the Cats this season for the Demons and obviously had emotions running high by the time Zach Tuohy’s shot sailed through the goals.

The CEO of Kardinia Park Trust, Michael Brown, was not quite as emphatic as McLachlan in his dismissal of segregation as a possibility.

“There’s discussion about segregating fans, I’m not sure that’s an action we want to take straight away," Brown told SEN's Whately program. 

"But we just can’t afford people to think they can come to football and not respect the other 31,000 people that were there.

“It should be a family friendly environment and we’ve got to work with the game to make sure we eradicate this behaviour.

“It’s not a distance you want to go because the great number of patrons do enjoy their time at the games.

“However we’ve got to explore all the avenues to make sure that we are being proactive so it doesn’t happen again.”

There have been other incidents this season that seem to suggest behaviour is on a downward curve, however, McLachlan doesn’t believe it’s a league-wide problem.

“The issue here is individual accountability,” he said.

“It’s idiotic, crazy behaviour, and they need to be held to account.”




 

Mick Stirling