Plan B Forum

MANLY and Melbourne are likely to be hit with massive fines - perhaps as much as $100,000 each - for the wild sideline brawl between their players on Friday night.

Both clubs will learn tomorrow how harsh the breach notices will be, following the fight sparked by Adam Blair and Glenn Stewart's sideline altercation, but it appears inevitable both will be fined significant amounts.

Some were even speculating yesterday each fine should be $100,000 or more, given the enormous publicity the brawl has attracted at a critical time for the code. North Queensland and the Warriors were each fined $25,000 in 2001 for a brawl that spilled into the area where the Cowboys cheergirls were seated, so it seems likely Manly and Melbourne will be fined at least $50,000 - half the money both were chasing for the minor premiership.


NRL chief executive David Gallop said the events at Brookvale Oval were ''serious and unacceptable''.

The Sun-Herald understands the flare-up between Stewart and Blair as they left the arena after being sin-binned for an initial brawl was sparked by a simple and relatively innocuous comment from one of them: ''Let's get it on.''

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Gob wrote:Both working fine here Joe?

Manly's Glenn and Brett Stewart and Melbourne's Adam Blair are among 10 players facing a total of 11 charges for their part in last Friday night's wild brawl at Brookvale Oval.

Glenn Stewart and Blair have been referred to the judiciary on Wednesday night on contrary conduct charges. Blair also faces a grade-two striking charge.

The clubs have each been fined $50,000.

Brett Stewart and Manly teammates Darcy Lussick, Kieran Foran and Michael Robertson face contrary conduct charges.

Lussick would miss three matches with an early guilty plea to a grade-three charge, while Brett Stewart and Foran would miss one match with early pleas.

Robertson would be available for next week's clash against Brisbane if he enters an early plea.

Storm players Sisa Waqa, Sika Manu, Brian Norrie and Jaiman Lowe face detrimental conduct charges.

With early pleas, Waqa and Manu would each miss one match while Norrie and Lowe would be free to play in the round 26 clash against the Roosters.



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"Manly Sea Eagles vs. Melbou..."
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Sorry about that.

But beneath the outcry, and the many, mostly female, talkback callers expressing outrage, there has been a quiet, visceral and exclusively male growl of approval. After years of calls to "bring back the biff'', here it is.

..One of the few to say out loud what many think has been the former league hard man Mark Geyer: "The fact is that no one got injured, there were no king hits, there was no one from behind hitting anyone illegally. There's been a total overreaction in the media. To say it's the worst thing in the history of rugby league is total BS." (And he's right.)

More seriously, that dichotomy between female and male views is difficult for the NRL. Engaged with the AFL in the fight of its life for the hearts, minds and bums on seats of the Sydney heartland, it is not sexist to say that the negative view of mothers, particularly, about league culture is a problem for administrators. But against that, it is the same tough physical confrontation that league offers - the closest football code to tribal warfare of long ago - that is one of the game's primary assets against AFL



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