Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\nIn defence of Maynard, he was victim of a three-man assault, with Suns forward Ben Long throwing an elbow into his ribs, before the benches of both teams cleared. <\/p>\n
Maynard was knocked to the ground and looked visibly hurt following the altercation.<\/p>\n
But he did not lick his wounds and instead sought revenge, firing what appeared to be an X-rated warning at Long while gesticulating towards him.<\/p>\n
Sure enough, as soon as the siren sounded for halftime Maynard rushed towards Long, who was already being accosted by other Pies players.<\/p>\n
Maynard went for his attacker but appeared to push umpire Andrew Stephens in the back in doing so.<\/p>\n
There was minimal contact but any touch on the umpire is a big no-no, so the Pies player could face punishment.<\/p>\n
His actions certainly added to the chaos as Suns star Bailey Humphrey dragged him to the ground in the ensuing brawl.<\/p>\n
Several bodies piled up on the ground as the instigator, Ben Long, somehow made a getaway.<\/p>\n
Commentator Anthony Hudson said on Kayo Sports: \u201cThis is out of control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maynard told Kayo Sports post-game: \u201cIf you\u2019re going to come hit me cheaply, you\u2019re going to get something back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all apart of the game, I didn\u2019t mind it really. I think I might have a broken rib but it\u2019s all apart of footy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maynard could be suspended for making intentional contact with an umpire \u2014 GWS captain Toby Greene was handed a six-week ban for touching an umpire in 2022. <\/p>\n
Fox Footy Reporter Jay Clark said: \u201cThis vision does not look. The AFL is hot on this.\u201d<\/p>\n
David King said: \u201cIt could be the dumbest thing we\u2019ve seen for the year. Umpires are a no-go zone, we talk about protecting them at all costs. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is irresponsible and it\u2019s a month (suspension) for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Long did not escape criticism from fans and pundits, with many backing Maynard after his harsh treatment.<\/p>\n
\u201cTeam Maynard. Pathetic from Gold Coast Suns,\u201d wrote Kane Cornes on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaynard, with a popped shoulder and a broken rib laid a game high nine tackles (six in the second half). Gold Coast Suns had 15 players who laid one or less. Says it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCommentators calling Maynard getting four weeks for umpire contact,\u201d said former AFL star Grant Thomas.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly he looks like he was being pushed from behind and had his hand out and secondly why on earth is an umpire anywhere near that action. Stay 10 metres out and let them go. <\/p>\n
\u201cWatch AFL make an overboard example of this incident.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cowardly Ben Long hit not worth a mention?\u201d wrote fan Rick Tapp on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaynard moving the umpire out of his way before getting into the scrap? Yeah, can\u2019t be doing that boss,\u201d said another, Nic Negrepontis.<\/p>\n
Maynard was asked about the incident after the match and he revealed he thinks he might have a broken rib.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re gonna comne hit me cheaply you\u2019re going to get something back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all part of the game, I don\u2019t mind it really. I think I might have a broken rib but it\u2019s part of footy. We move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collingwood coach Craig McRae was not happy with how Maynard was treated though refused to comment on his apparent umpire push.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will have to look at that to make comment on it. I can\u2019t make comment if I haven\u2019t seen it. I\u2019m sure I will,\u201d McRae said in response to the matter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only have one angle on the boundary \u2026 prior to that while it escalated I just saw Bruzzy (Maynard) get hit in the ribs and to what extent, I don\u2019t know, but it caused something.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the siren goes, I duck in (to the change rooms), I get myself sorted \u2013 they come in fired up though.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was an energy when they came in. I\u2019m not aware of how long it went for but I don\u2019t know what the AFL do with that, I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be looking at it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t happy with the guy getting hit off the ball, I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s something we\u2019d love every week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Originally published as Collingwood star Brayden Maynard risks punishment over umpire push that leaves AFL world divided<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Collingwood star Brayden Maynard was at the centre of a controversial moment against Gold Coast Suns that involved…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":779078,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,277557,85],"class_list":["post-779077","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ncaeditorialkayoprogram","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779077","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=779077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/779078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=779077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=779077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=779077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}