I just saw the footage now - absolutely horrible, and those responsible MUST be charged by the police and held totally accountable. I do sincerely hope that the older Briars supporter is ok, he appeared to be knocked out before he hit the ground. This situation is serious enough, if he sustains long-term injuries as a result of this incident, god help the perpetrator.
The footage I saw showed what appeared to be a raptors supporter, not a player. Were players involved? The footage was not clear on this...
And it is an interesting read of all the comments below that footage in YT
So lets say that Raptors ably assist Subbies (and the police) with the aftermath, and the perps are identified and dealt with. I assume Raptors will apologise to all and sundry, and state that this type of incident will never happen again, etc etc. blah blah blah..
Moving forward, what assurances can Raptors give all the other clubs in Div 3 (and Subbies) that this won't happen again, in either matches, or on the sidelines?
You know what, there is none, and to be quite frank - other clubs in Div 3 - who are next in line to play the Raptors, would be placing their players - and officials, and spectators - in a high risk situation, and potential harms way - and just on that fact alone, Raptors should be removed from the comp...
I have been officiating for some time now, and there have been similar situations occur over the years - Subbies, NSW Rugby, and Tim will come down hard on all of those involved. At the very least, there will not be a game against Raptors next weekend, and possibly the next, as I am sure the deliberations regarding those involved will take time to uncover - especially so if the police are involved, and charges are laid.
Its a real shame - they were playing good rugby, and they were successfully building as a club - but the drums had been beating for some time now with their on field behaviour, and it appears to have spilled over to the sidelines.
If racism is the cause of this incident, then that also needs to be severely dealt with. There is no place for that rubbish abuse in our game - but dealing with it using physical violence is worse.
I hope Blacktown take serious note of what will eventually happen to Raptors, as they will be next in the firing line unless they control themselves too
Enough is enough, all of this sideline and on field thuggery - across all grades and all divisions - must stop. I do hope that Subbies quickly instils even harsher penalties for this type of behaviour, and communicates it to all clubs and Divisions, ASAP.