{"id":902073,"date":"2026-09-23T04:06:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T04:06:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/902073\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T04:06:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T04:06:14","slug":"police-set-to-lay-assault-charges-after-nachos-thrown-at-young-family-at-brisbane-hawthorn-mcg-thriller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/902073\/","title":{"rendered":"Police set to lay assault charges after nachos thrown at young family at Brisbane-Hawthorn MCG thriller"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Hawthorn<\/a> fan who allegedly threw nachos at a Brisbane<\/a>-supporting family at the MCG is set to be hit with three charges, including two counts of aggravated unlawful assault.<\/p>\n

The father of the young Lions fan targeted said his family is scared to return to the footy but are likely to take up an AFL<\/a> offer to attend the grand final in a bid to move on from the incident.<\/p>\n

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Young fan hit with nachos as unruly crowd mars MCG epic<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

Dreadful scenes after the Lions\u2019 pulsating preliminary-final victory over Hawthorn last Saturday night saw Hawks fans pelting cans and bottles onto the ground and at the umpires in disgust.<\/p>\n

The Hawthorn faithful were filthy over three contentious but ultimately correct umpiring decisions in the dying stages of the thrilling contest, the last of which saw Jarman Impey pinged for holding the ball by Hugh McCluggage, who then kicked the go-ahead goal. <\/p>\n

And as they took their frustrations out in the chaotic moments after the final siren, a number of innocent fans got caught in the crosshairs. <\/p>\n

One six-year-old Lions fan was taken to hospital where he required stitches after copping a full can to the head, while another Brisbane fan and his mum had nachos thrown at them.<\/p>\n

Police tracked down the culprit and issued an update on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestigators will allege a 47-year-old woman and eight-year-old child were standing at the conclusion of the match when a plate of food was thrown at them about 8pm on Saturday, 19 September,\u201d Victoria Police said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither of the pair were injured and the woman reported the incident to police the following day.<\/p>\n

\u201cA 34-year-old Seaford man was interviewed by police yesterday.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is expected to be charged on summons with aggravated unlawful assault (x2) and discharge a missile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe AFL has identified the fan who threw nachos at a young family. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

Separately, a 56-year-old Tullamarine man was interviewed by police and hit with a $418 penalty notice for allegedly throwing a bottle on the field.<\/p>\n

He was the second person to cop the punishment, after a 40-year-old Croydon man was spoken to by police on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Victoria Police said it will \u201ccontinue to make enquiries along with key stakeholders\u201d including the AFL.<\/p>\n

Nacho victim\u2019s father speaks out<\/p>\n

Nick, the father and husband of the nacho victims, was away for the weekend and only found out when a video of the incident was sent into their family group chat. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I saw it, I called to see what was going on, if they were alright and all that,\u201d Nick told Triple M\u2019s Mick in the Morning on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey were pretty shaken up just dealing with it. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get to really speak to him (my son) too much then. I ended up speaking to them once they got home. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife was shaken up, when I spoke to my boy he was really shaken up too, and I was like, \u2018It\u2019s nacho fault, boy\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust got to find the opportunity to throw a dad joke in. I knew they weren\u2019t physically hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son was there part of the Auskick program, he was super excited, I was gutted I was away that weekend, I couldn\u2019t be there with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to 7NEWS Melbourne on Monday, the mother said it\u2019s made them reluctant to go back to the footy. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were scared after that to wear our Brisbane Lions merchandise in case someone targeted us again,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel scared to go again, and feel like I can\u2019t protect my son.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Nick said his family is appreciative of the immediate communication and support they\u2019ve had from all relevant officials. <\/p>\n

\u201cAFL have been in touch with us, the CEO of Hawthorn (Ashley Klein) has been in touch with us, the MCG\u2019s been in touch with us,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone around has been great \u2014 just not the coward who threw the nachos. It\u2019s rubbish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found out yesterday the MCG and AFL have organised tickets for us to go as a family, which is awesome for them to do that for us. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut (my son is) not too keen, to be honest, he\u2019s like, \u2018Maybe we should just watch it from home\u2019. But nah, we\u2019re gonna go. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re gonna teach him not to be a coward and just be like, nah, we did nothing wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nick said his wife remains \u201ca bit shocked from it all. It\u2019s just unfathomable\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty sure they have found him (the perpetrator),\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Behaviour was not much better on the field either, with James Sicily copping a $10,000 fine and Tom Barrass $5000 for their demonstrative exchange with umpire Hayden Meyer \u2014 who correctly paid the Impey holding the ball free kick \u2014 after the siren. <\/p>\n

\"JamesJames Sicily and Tom Barrass going at Hayden Meyer. Credit: Channel 7<\/p>\n

Reflecting on Monday morning, Mitchell said he had noticed \u201cthere was a fair bit happening\u201d and urged his players in an impromptu huddle to \u201cact with humility\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would\u2019ve seen after that we walked off and gave a clap to some of the people who were still there,\u201d the Hawks coach told SEN.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously some of the things that we\u2019ve found out since, there was a very small portion of those fans who didn\u2019t act appropriately, which has sort of soured what was probably one of the greatest games of all time.<\/p>\n

\u201cDisappointing that a few fans decided to throw things and not act appropriately. That was a bit disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Mitchell confirmed that at the time he had not been aware Sicily and Barrass had teed off at umpire Hayden Meyer in the chaos of the Jarman Impey free kick, Hugh McCluggage goal and final siren.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must admit I didn\u2019t see that at all. I hadn\u2019t seen that or heard about that at all. I just saw on the ground there was a lot of debris,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hadn\u2019t seen any of that (with the players). I assumed that was all happening while we were coming back down from the coaches box. I wasn\u2019t across that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI read a story about a young eight-year-old who had nachos thrown at them at the footy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think one of the great things, I\u2019ve been on record about this regularly, saying how good is Aussie rules footy that you can just take anywhere, you can sit anywhere and you can feel safe all the time. And I think we lost that for a moment after the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s ever what anyone wants so making sure we behave appropriately, which goes to our players as well, going towards umpire after game is I don\u2019t think appropriate behaviour either.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Injured boy taken to hospital after \u2018sour\u2019 finish to MCG epic<\/p>\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

AFL to hit bottle throwers with monster MCG bans<\/p>\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

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