Local Footy Player Handed Huge Ban For Cowardly Act On Opposition
It remains unknown exactly what prompted the vicious elbow to the back of the head, although the footage makes for tough viewing.
A local Aussie Rules player has been slapped with a six-week suspension from the Northern Football League following a cowardly act that sparked an all-in brawl.
Riley Black, who plies his trade for Mernda, appeared to strike opposition player Mitch Thompson from behind, leaving the rival captain lying motionless on the field, clearly concussed.
It remains unknown exactly what prompted the vicious elbow to the back of the head, but there's no denying that there's absolutely no place for this sort of stuff in sport.
The footage itself makes for tough viewing too.
What followed next was a heated scuffle between the two teams as the Thompson's teammates clearly took exception to the blindside hit.
Once the melee was defused, the umpire wasted no time in giving Black his marching orders, producing a red card.
Black faced the Northern Football League tribunal following the nasty incident and was hit with a six-week ban for his actions.
"He'll learn from this," Mernda football manager Sean Mills said, as reported by the Whittlesea Leader.
"He was very remorseful on the day and he tried to apologise to the player but they waved him away and he accepted that.
"We don't condone violence in football and we'll have some discussions internally.
"There was a hearing last night, they went through the evidence and the video, he was apologetic and remorseful and we're obviously disappointed by his actions."
Unfortunately this isn't the first time a Merna footy player has landed themselves in got water for their actions on the field.
Back in 2019, one of the Mernda players was banned for life for another coward shot on a rival players, this time against Old Eltham Collegians.
"The last couple of years we've had a couple of incidents that are out of the control of the club and it's not something we condone," Mills added.
"We're disappointed across the board, that's it in a nutshell."
Topics: Aussie Rules, afl, Aussie Rules Football, Video, Fight, watch, Australia
Max Sherry