A second-quarter melee caused umpires to abandon the game between Newport Power and Yarraville-Seddon in the Western Region Football League division 2 at Bryan Martyn Oval on Saturday.
It was the second heated confrontation for the day after umpires had to intervene in a scuffle during the first quarter.
The umpires decided to call the game off for the safety of players and officials about 10 minutes into the second term.
Yarraville-Seddon coach Dean Callaway said both he and Newport coach Hanni Harb wanted play to continue, but the final decision rested with the officials after they deemed the situation too volatile.
“Hanni and myself went and spoke to the umpires to try and re-start the game, but they had their minds set and said, ‘No’,” Callaway said. “They didn’t want the game to continue because they felt it was unsafe for the umpires after what happened with the melee when one of our players got thrown into an umpire.
“It wasn’t intentional, but the umpire thought it was. I’ll stick up for the Newport guy and say, ‘OK, you bumped our player, but then our player fell’; it was just unfortunate.”
The WRFL will review the game during the week.
Visitors Yarraville-Seddon were leading at the time, but Callaway is unsure whether points will be given to either club after the game failed to reach half-time.
It could have major ramifications on Yarraville-Seddon’s quest for the minor premiership, but Callaway will leave it in the hands of league officials to determine the outcome.
He said the incidents were not a good look for the league.
“I think the league will deal with it during the week and I don’t know where it goes from here,” Callaway said. “It’s not a good sight for western region football.
“It gives the league a bad reputation.”
It was a real momentum killer for Yarraville-Seddon, a week after beating then premiership favourites North Footscray.
Pending the outcome of the game review, the Eagles immediately ceded top spot back to North Footscray, which had a 174-point win over West Footscray.
Irrespective of the ladder positions, Callaway is adamant his team is back in the premiership hunt.
“We take a lot out of that [win over North Footscray],” he said.
“We now know we can beat them.
“It’s not a one-horse race.”
