Video emerges of AFL fan's altercation with Channel 7 star
An AFL fan has been kicked out of the MCG after getting into a verbal altercation with Channel 7 host Andy Maher during Saturday night's clash between Carlton and Melbourne.
Footage has emerged of the interaction, which shows the man getting out of his seat and walking over to Maher, who was sitting a few rows back.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: AFL fan kicked out of MCG after exchanging words with Andy Maher.
It's unclear what the man says to Maher, who hosts The Front Bar, but a number of other spectators can be heard yelling at security to kick the man out.
The man appears wobbly on his feet throughout the interaction, while a woman also appears to try and diffuse the situation.
Two security staff then came down the aisle and eventually remove the man, which was applauded by fans in the area. A fan has been filmed confronting The Front Bar host Andy Maher. Credit: X Security promptly removed the man. Credit: X
A clip of the incident has gone viral on social media with fans praising Maher for remaining calm throughout.
Maher said he had zero interaction with the fan before he came up to him.
'It was the last three minutes of the game and I noticed there were two blokes who were pretty pissed,' Maher told News Corp.
'Dave Hughes was sitting four rows behind me and my attention was caught by Hughesy saying, 'You can't say that to the old bloke, you've crossed the line, take it back, apologise'.
'Then this bloke looked up at me and saw me sitting there and I said, 'Mate, just shoosh'. That was it.
'Then he came over to me and said, 'Andrew Maher, I know you. You will listen to me'. He was pissed and wouldn't sit down so then he got chucked out.'
Maher was in the stands with his young daughters after earlier taking part in Carlton's Race for Respect.
He said his children were initially 'freaked out' by the situation, but Maher quickly realised that the man wasn't going to do anything stupid.
Maher shed more light on the incident on SEN later on Tuesday.
'Well, he was escorted out of the premises. It had nothing to do with me,' he said.
'I just told the fella to sit down. I said, 'Mate, you're going to get thrown out if you keep going'. He got thrown out.
'I missed the start of it, but Dave Hughes was in the middle of it all at the start and doing a very fine job of sticking up for one of our veteran members of society, who had, apparently, drawn some unsavoury language from this bloke.'
Maher said there was too much of this happening.
'There's too many blokes going and getting (drunk) at the footy these days. There's too much of it,' he said.
'There's too many blokes going to the footy – go to the footy and having a few beers, by all means – but why do so many people have to go the footy and get three sheets to the breeze? Why does that happen?
'Why can't you just go to the footy and have a couple of beers? Why do you have to come along and get yourself munted and then make a fool of yourself and ruin everyone else's experience.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
7 hours ago
- News.com.au
Roos' identity crisis amid Clarko question as ‘sickening' loss lays bare failed draft trade gamble
Questions continue to be asked of North Melbourne's on-field identity after a 'sickening' 101-point loss to Geelong on Saturday night amid more evidence of a failed draft gamble. The Kangaroos finished a staggering -41 for inside-50s, -10 for clearances, -16 for contested possessions, and -18 for marks inside 50 on a night they couldn't come close to halving the territory battle nor begin to contain the Cats' purring forward line, with superstar Jeremy Cameron running riot for 11 majors. It was North Melbourne's 14th-straight defeat at the hands of Geelong and its fifth-straight loss as it remains with a measly four wins to its name for the season. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. 'For North Melbourne fans, that would've been a sickening watch; incredibly frustrating. You feel sorry for the Kangaroos fans, who have watched this for six years,' the Herald Sun's Jay Clark told Fox Footy's Super Saturday Live post-match coverage. Dual All-Australian and two-time Kangaroos premiership player David King pondered the machinations of the club's game plan and lamented its inability to adequately defend. 'This (the North Melbourne rooms) would be an awful place to be, at the moment. It's a tough one, because when you watch them play, it's kind of difficult to work out what they're trying to execute,' he began. 'Are they handballing when the options are available, and then run and gun? Or is it take territory and get numbers to drop of ball? Is it a mix of both? I don't know what they're doing defensively; that's just not working at all — 40 (Geelong) scores tonight.' The Cats scored 27 times from 58 intercepts on Saturday night, exemplifying the ease of which they were able to transition and punish the Roos on the counter. 'They just smashed them; they walked through them. The amount of times Jeremy Cameron was out the back by himself, and it'd be uncontested possession, uncontested possession, goal,' King continued. 'I'd love to ask Alastair Clarkson 'what are you trying to achieve?' Show us what it should look like, and then we can at least enjoy the ride. Because we just go from week to week and not see it. We have seen it in patches throughout the year, but we're not seeing it now. 'I know the ruckman's (Tristan Xerri) not there, I know Nick Larkey's not there, but that shouldn't have as big an effect as what it does on their ability to stop the opposition moving the ball full length of the ground.' Patrick Dangerfield was tactically substituted out of the game, his 200th for Geelong, and the sight of the veteran sitting on the bench munching on a kebab while the game was still going on would have rubbed salt into the wound for North fans. Serious questions continue to be asked of the Roos' direction under Alastair Clarkson in the third year of the four-time premiership coach's reign, with the club benefitting from top picks for the better part of the past six years. In 55 games under Clarkson, North Melbourne is 10-44-1. The club has finished 17th on the ladder in consecutive seasons and currently sits 17th with four games left to go this season. Asked when the pressure on Clarkson genuinely gets turned up, King answered: 'It's a great question; it's hard to answer. I think you have a blind faith in the club that the decision-makers will get it right. 'Words are cheap; it's really hard to just listen to the same conversation over and over and over. It's a tough place to be, there's no doubt about that ... third year in, a penny for his thoughts, is he able to do what he once thought he could do with this group? Are there any doubts there? 'You walk off the ground tonight, you have to doubt your own plan. You've got (Jack) Darling, (Luke) Parker and (Caleb) Daniel to the club to try and stiffen up with a bit of seniority; that doesn't look like it's working as well as it probably should.' North Melbourne fielded eight former top-12 draft picks against Geelong, as King declared the club's issues didn't revolve around an absence of talented players. 'It's not a talent issue; it's a system problem,' he said. 'You can be really brutal and say 'it's coaching', right, but it's also performance of that system. 'Where's the disconnect? Are the players not understanding? Are they not prepared to work hard enough to ensure the system works? I think they're good enough, and I don't think they're that young that they can't compete defensively. That's not really a talent issue. 'I'm the same as all those people in the room and all those watching on, I don't understand the system, because I see so many flaws in it, so many holes in it. 'I don't see it; it's not consistent enough to say 'this is their identifiable brand'. And I think when you see 150 points against, I think even they'd say 'you wouldn't be able to see it tonight'.' Speaking post-game on Saturday night, Clarkson, who lamented glaringly obvious deficiencies in contest, clearance and territory, made it a point to highlight the discrepancy in experience between the sides. 'The Geelong forward line versus the North Melbourne backline, just see the void that sits there in terms of just experience and exposure,' he said. 'And I don't want to make excuses for our players, but it's where we're at, though. 'And we're giving these young players some exposure and opportunity, and in our back end in particular, we're going to be left very, very vulnerable down there against a formidable forward line if we couldn't control the middle of the ground as well as we'd like. And Geelong was too good in that space.' The Roos fielded the second-youngest team in the competition in Round 20, with eight-game key defender Wil Dawson among those in royal blue and white tortured by Cameron and the Cats, who licked their lips each time they entered forward 50. 'Everyone will look at win-loss and all that sort of stuff, and making progress — and even if it is just win-loss, we have made some progress,' said Clarkson in his press conference. 'But we've had three performances that were well below our best, which (were) the Carlton game in Round 6 here, the Hawthorn game about a month ago down in Tassie, and tonight. 'But outside of that, we've been much more competitive than what we were last year, winning more quarters and being in more games at three-quarter-time than we had last year.' But while Clarkson continues to preach that non-linear progress continues to be made at Arden Street, the Roos' list management's choice to trade away the club's first-round pick this year has come back to bite hard. Last November, North Melbourne — banking on a significant uptick this season — traded its future first-round pick to Richmond to secure the No.27 selection, key-position utility Matt Whitlock, who has played just one senior game in his debut season. That future choice is currently slated to wind up as the second overall pick. Injecting young talent isn't as urgent for the Roos as it has been in previous seasons, but given the stagnancy of this season, it's premium draft capital they'd absolutely love to have this off-season. 'I think they thought they would be further progressed, because they did trade that pick away,' Clark said on Fox Footy. 'Would they have traded that No.2 pick away if they thought they were going to finish second-last on the ladder? No way. They thought they would be up the ladder; they thought they would improve, that's why they gave that pick away. 'So, it tells you that they thought they would be better than they're at; that's really clear.' The Roos are currently slated to make their first draft choice this November at No.20, holding a pair of picks at the top of the second round.
West Australian
10 hours ago
- West Australian
WA Player Watch: Western Bulldog Aaron Naughton bags seven as young stars put hands up in VFL
As the AFL season reaches its pointy end, The West Australian takes a look around the country to see which WA products are having the biggest say at their club. The Bulldogs' spearhead had managed only 19 goals through the first half of 2025 as the rise and rise of giant father-son product Sam Darcy took the league by storm. But the Rockingham product stood firm and has sent a potent reminder of his depth of talent, matching his 19 goals from the first half in the past four weeks alone with three bags of five or more. Naughton again filled his boots against injury-riddled Essendon on Friday night, kicking a career-high seven goals in his side's monster 93-point victory to remain in the top eight. The former top-10 draft pick has established himself as a regular for the high-flying Crows this season, so much so that he got a run in the middle against Port Adelaide. In a 98-point Showdown massacre, Curtin collected 22 disposals and four clearances, with the 20-year-old showing off his strong frame. The most exciting thing? He has a brother in this year's draft who is also tipped to be a talented AFL footballer. Speedy midfielder/forward Jones is doing his best to put his hand up for selection at the Bulldogs as they fight for finals. Playing in the VFL against Essendon, the boy from Mt Barker was a dangerous presence, kicking two goals from 14 disposals and four marks. After kicking a career-best two goals against West Coast in Perth earlier this year, Tholstrup appeared keen to get back among the Demons' senior ranks for the rematch while playing for Casey. The wingman looked sharp around the contest, using his hands to feed the ball out from his seven clearances before getting back into the action with 20 touches and a goal.
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- News.com.au
Footy fans demand answers over questionable Richmond free kick
Footy fans have been left asking for a please explain over a questionable free kick that unfolded at the MCG on Sunday. Halfway through the second quarter Richmond were surging forward against Collingwood when Jonty Faull launched one to the 50m arc. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Collingwood's Harry Perryman found himself right in the perfect spot for the drop of the ball with Tigers forward Steely Green surging in from a distance. Perryman set himself up to protect the space as Green attempted to launch over the top for a mark of the year contender. In the end Green soared high onto the shoulder of Perryman and got two hands on the ball before fumbling and crashing to the turf and landing square on his back. The umpire's whistle blew almost instantly with the Tigers forward being awarded the free kick for being blocked out. Perryman was left fuming over the free kick and the Magpies star wasn't the only one annoyed by the whistle. Geelong legend Tom Hawkins couldn't quite understand how Perryman had been penalised on Fox Footy. 'What do you do? He's trying to protect the space … I'm with the Collingwood faithful here,' Hawkins said. The Age's Peter Ryan wrote on X: 'That free kick against Harry Perryman for god knows what to Steely Green who was flying for a mark is beyond me. It's worth watching as I'm not sure I understand the game's rules from week to week any longer.' Lenny Phillips wrote: 'Did steely green just get a free for trying to take a cool mark in the wet?' Another irate fan added: 'The imbecile masquerading as an umpire who just paid that mark to Steely Green shouldn't umpire a senior AFL game again.' Of course not everybody watching on was left angry over the decision with many quick to back the umpire's call. One wrote on Instagram: 'He took his eyes off the ball this isn't complicated.' A second added: 'Clear free kick. Not sure why anyone is complaining.' A third posted: 'He took his eyes off the ball to block him intentionally, obvious free kick, if he was guarding the space to purely mark the ball then it should be play on.' Despite the contentious moment, it mattered little to the end result with Collingwood storming clear to secure the 13.15 (93) to 8.9 (57) victory. The clash saw Nick Daicos deliver his latest masterclass with the superstar moving a step closing to making his Brownlow Medal dreams a reality. He is likely to have earned another three votes from the umpires as he finished with 42 disposals and an equal career-high three goals against the inexperienced Tigers. He was a class above anyone else on the field and the signs were ominous from the opening minutes when the realisation set in there was no direct tag from Richmond coach Adem Yze. 'I put a bit of grippo on and the ball didn't leave my hand after that,' Daicos told Fox Footy post-match when asked about his cleanliness in the wet conditions. His third goal was the pick of the lot as Daicos ran towards his boundary and kicked truly on his left foot. It was the third time in his 89-game career he's had more than 30 touches and kicked three goals.
