While the weekend sports media focused on the gambling addiction of at
least one first grade NRL player, inadequate coverage has been given to an even
greater problem in rugby league, and sport generally: on-field violence.

Last week, Nine’s A Current Affair showed graphic footage of a series
of brawls between players, and spectators, in an Under 15s match in Toowoomba.
It was ugly, very ugly, but it is not a one off, not in Queensland, not
anywhere.

And the Brisbane Sunday media reported an even more disturbing incident
in which the president of one of Queensland’s junior football clubs is alleged
to have violently assaulted the referee in an under 15s match – not once but
twice.

And while the problem of players, spectators, and officials, behaving
very badly is not confined to rugby league (readers no doubt recall the recent
ugly brawl at a rugby union game between two very toffy Sydney private
schools), league administrators mustn’t use that as an excuse to do
nothing.

The full story is on the site here.