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"That's a shame because off the field he's a great bloke, good fella, and he can play football," says the commentator in a weak attempt to positively spin a West Lions player's decision to headbutt a referee in this Group 4 rugby league grand final in regional NSW.Moments earlier the same player had headbutted an opponent from the North Tamworth Bears. He was immediately sent from the field by the referee who then exacted his revenge by sending four more West Lions players from the field over the next ten minutes. All for a series of minor infringements. The West Lions were subsequently forced to forfeit the game due to not having enough players on the field (you need a minimum of nine to complete the game). Police are now investigating the incident.The rot sets in at 5:44:00 in the clip below. Rugby league fans will also recognise the presence of former Canberra Raiders and NSW origin prop, Tom Learoyd-Lahrs in the game.Rugby League is widely regarded as one of the toughest games in the world. In Australia it belongs almost exclusively to the working and welfare classes. But if you thought the televised National Rugby League (NRL) competition was scandal plagued (and it is), then the lower-grade amateur competitions around the country are just plain sadistic.As I sit here writing this I'm massaging two titanium plates in my jaw courtesy of a dog shot from a Redfern All Blacks player when I was 19 - one of three occasions I was king hit while captaining the Maroubra Lions U'21s team (I was no angel but I drew the line at punching people in the side of the head when they weren't looking).In that period I watched ethnic feuds play out on sunny Sunday mid-mornings; watched trainers run onto the field to kick players; heard rumours of metal plates being concealed beneath forearm strapping; and knew a player who had his jaw broken by a king hit from a fan who'd entered the field (the team was subsequently locked in their change rooms until police arrived). The occasional toe-to-toe fight is an inevitability in a sport as physical and aggressive as this. They are also mostly harmless. The shameless dog shots and melees that go down in park football, however, are a grubby mess that need to be sorted out.Follow Jed on twitter, here.
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