The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-09-19 · by Alexander Darling
After Brisbane's victory over Hawthorn in a preliminary final at the MCG, angry Hawthorn supporters threw bottles onto the field, nearly hitting umpires Jacob Mollison and his colleague. This incident prompted criticism from AFL commentators and officials who emphasized that such behavior is unacceptable. Ron Issko, president of the AFL Fans Association, noted this was an unusually widespread occurrence involving hundreds of fans, distinguishing it from previous isolated incidents.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-20,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Ugly scenes marred Saturday night’s preliminary final between Hawthorn and Brisbane, with dozens of fans pelting cans and bottles at umpires when they left the field after the nine-point loss to Brisbane. A 34-year-old man from Seaford is expected to be charged with two counts of aggravated unlawful assault and discharging a missile for allegedly throwing nachos at a woman and her eight-year-old son. Police also fined five fans, including one who threw an item and another assaulted at the ground during the Lions’ tense victory. Victoria Police launched investigations into reports that nachos were thrown at a family, with neither injured but leading to charges of assault against suspects. Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell condemned fan behavior, declaring the MCG unsafe for brief moments when supporters vented frustrations over contentious game decisions. The AFL warned fans responsible could face bans of up to five years.
Written for “Sports Fan Violence Charges” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.
Ugly scenes erupted at the MCG on Saturday night when fans threw bottles onto the ground, narrowly missing umpires as they walked off the turf after a pulsating finish to the preliminary final between Hawthorn and Brisbane.
asserted
they → erupt → Hawthorn
Dozens of water bottles and cans rained down on the ground after Brisbane’s nine-point victory, when Hawthorn fans booed the umpires and vented their fury to a series of high-stakes decisions in the match’s dying minutes.
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fans → rain → minutes
Footage showed one field umpire, Jacob Mollison, reacting quickly to protect his colleague from a projectile that appeared to have been thrown from the second level of the stadium.
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that → show → stadium
The ugly scenes triggered a blunt reaction from AFL figures: “They should not have things thrown at them.
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things → trigger → them
A bottle’s come down from the top tier,” said commentator Luke Hodge, who played for both Hawthorn and Brisbane.
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who → come → Hawthorn
The Lions clawed back the lead moments before the final siren when Hawks defender Jarman Impey was pinged for holding the ball and Lion Hugh McCluggage cooly slotted the resultant set-shot goal.
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McCluggage → claw → goal
Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell said he understood the fans’ emotions, but condemned their behaviour.
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he → say → behaviour
“The emotion of sport, it’s why we love it so much,” he said in his post-match press conference.
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he → ’ → conference
“All sports, but ours in particular – the beauty is the emotion it makes you feel.
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you → make → ?
At the end of the game, part of me wanted to break down in tears.
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part → want → tears
Part of me wanted to scream with rage.
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Part → want → rage
Part of me wanted to throw chairs.
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Part → want → chairs
“When you’re in the stands, you need to continue to feel that emotion, but we shouldn’t be throwing things on the field.
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we → ’re → field
AFL Fans Association president Ron Issko said on Sunday the spectacle had left him stunned.
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spectacle → say → him
“I’ve never seen a collective doing what they did like that,” he told this masthead.
asserted
he → see → masthead
It looked like it was a few hundred people around the entire ground throwing stuff onto the ground.
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it → look → ground
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”
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I → believe → what
Issko said the sheer number of fans participating in the ugly spectacle made the incident different to previous throwing incidents.
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incident → say → incidents
Earlier this year, Hawks star Nick Watson claimed he had a Coke bottle thrown at him in a match against Sydney, while a fan who threw a lemon at Eagles player Reuben Ginbey was banned for five years.
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who → claim → years
“If we can find people that threw it, even though we’re not going to catch everyone, they should face consequences, that’s just not the fans that the AFL fans association represent,” he said.
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he → find → that
“It’s just not on.
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It → ’ → ?
If you want to do that to umpires, we won’t have umpires and we won’t have a game of footy.”
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we → want → footy
Issko said the incident would be on the agenda of his group’s next meeting with the AFL, but how to prevent such widespread delinquency happening again he wasn’t sure.
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he → say → AFL
This masthead has contacted the clubs, AFL, MCC and the umpires association for comment.
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masthead → contact → comment
Get around our AFL finals coverage
- Brownlow Medal: Everything you need to know about this year’s count
-
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you → get → count
Hawks fans were left irate, but the Impey decision was correct
- Legend’s huge Swans call: ‘Are you better off without these players?’
-
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you → leave → players
Player ratings: The match-winners from an SCG thriller
- Mitchell on Hawks fans: ‘We shouldn’t be throwing things’
Be the first to know when major news happens.
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news → throw → things
The Aporia
