Nic Naitanui and Zach Merrett may face sanction over an incident that saw players from both teams get into it right in front of the fans on the fence.
Thursday night's elimination final at Optus Stadium was just Naitanui's fourth game of the season and his impact was telling.
The star Eagles ruckman was on reduced minutes but his presence helped the home side to handy lead early in the third quarter of their clash with the Bombers.
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Things got heated when Naitanui engaged in a contest with Essendon midfielder Merrett near the boundary line, with the big man taking issue after Merrett appeared to tug on his dreads.
The West Coast star dumped Merrett into the fence, with several Bombers players coming in to fly the flag, knocking over some bloke's hot chips in the process.
It also appeared a fan threw a beer over Merrett as he stood up.
There was a heated scuffle on the boundary during the third quarter.#AFLEaglesDons #AFLFinals pic.twitter.com/9a1gmmUTVF
— AFL (@AFL) September 5, 2019
It was later confirmed that both players were reported by the umpires over the incident.
While Merrett and Naitanui are likely to face fines for their role in the drama, the fan who chucked his drink over Merrett will be lucky to escape sanction.
Plenty of viewers watching at home noticed the fan's stupidity.
You’ve gotta be pretty dumb to think you can get away with pouring a beer on an athletes head in a nationally televised football match. Then again... Perth... 🤷♂️ #AFLEaglesDons #AFLFinals
— Mark Gottlieb (@MarkGottliebFOX) September 5, 2019
@AFL @OptusStadium throw the scum bag @WestCoastEagles supporter out of the game and ban him for life for throwing his drink over Zac Merrett. Absolute disgrace.
— Brendon Goddard (@BrendonGoddard9) September 5, 2019
As for the scoreboard, West Coast maintained a healthy lead they'd established early in the match, with a four-goal opening half from Josh Kennedy seeing them into the sheds with a 30-point lead.
Essendon threatened a comeback in the third term but once the Eagles saw that off, they blew them off the park in the final quarter to set up a meeting with the loser of Friday night's clash between Geelong and Collingwood.
