bench-clearing brawl in state final

[Malcolm Tucker]

I have read all the posts here to hopefully not say what has already been said.

Here in Australia we try to teach our officials to avoid situations that have a propensity for trouble. Giving the ball to an opposition player right in front of the other teams's bench is one of these. The officials have think beyond the rule book and have a feel for the game.

As far as tossing only 1 player I think this is were you guys have a problem. From reading this board I know in some regions coaches and administrators seem to have far too much input into referee appointments and some referees then no doubt set about protecting your jobs to a degree.

The answer here it seems to me was toss at least 1 player from the other side and let the game go on. This then shows an even handedness and neither team can complain that they were disadvantaged.

I agree this is not strictly by the rules but nothing would have been served by tossing all the bench. The game would then have gone in the toilet.

You could have even made it 2 or 3 from each side so the players would get the message that it was a really stupid thing to do.