That's interesting because at the Wire v Trinity game last week the stewards were bag searching Wakefield fans at the turn style.

Cheer Leaders

I think he meant other idiots in the crowd egging them on, not official Cheer Leaders.

That's not exactly a measure of being a fan or being a trouble maker. I've missed about a dozen Salford games home and away in the past 20 seasons and none of the group I go to games with wear replica shirts (although that might be partly to do with Salford's abysmal merchandise). Plenty of the Widnes/Wakey fans involved in the antics at Belle Vue seemed to be in replica shirts though.

Doesn't sound good.

Also not condoning any fans causing trouble but there's a pretty bad looking video that I've just seen on twitter showing a Steward basically piling in and throwing about 10 upper cuts on someone whilst his other mate holds him.

Not good at all, And there's no excuse for what the steward did.

Just seen that. Awful stuff. Hope he's identified and action is taken against him

From previous experience I actually think a lot of the stewards that work the away end at the HJ tend to exacerbate problems once they start rather than resolve them. Although, from some of the pictures I've seen it does look for once like there was actually a proper bit of scraping going on, rather than the handbags that usually get everyone so worked up.

There was a real fight which started after a Widnes fan threw a smoke bomb that hit another Widnes fan. One Steward did go OTT, but you should all bear in mind that had the Widnes fans not kicked off then the incident with the steward would not have occurred. The person posting the video of the incident conveniently forgot to show the entire incident which was quite nasty and certainly involved more than a few fans. It's a long time since I saw Police draw batons at a game of RL.
That's 3 away games in a row that Widnes fans have caused trouble. The RFL needs to sort it out now.

Teesside Wire, can you just clarify as to whether there has been trouble at the last 3 Widnes away games an whether you think something should be done about it, only you haven't mentioned it for 11 seconds or so!

Seen the clip.

If you can call it that. At right angles, poorly shot and taken from behind the steward so we see very little.

Pretty harsh to have a go at the steward, but you always get this kind of reaction. Lets back the criminals. Let let everyone do whatever they want.

Simple answer next time there is crowd trouble, stand back and let it happen. Don't intervene. Just let them kick off and watch the innocent by standers get the flack.

Our Johnny's not such a bad lad........etc

The never ending excuses for the instigators and trouble makers.
I do wonder at times if we have gone crackers in this country, as we are always happy to back the wrong doer or find some/any excuse to give them.

If they don't cause problems. Then the stewards just point people to their seats and clean up spilt cups of tea and beer. If they cause trouble you need meet force with force.

twitter.yfrog.com/7etjdxujouwxhrgxuxfhfeauz?sa=0 link showing the Steward

twitter.yfrog.com/7etjdxujouwxhrgxuxfhfeauz?sa=0 link showing the Steward

If you kick off then don't bleat if a steward, bouncer or policeman gives you a kicking I say.

Dont know if its the same incident but was talking to another wire fan last night about it and he fully backed the steward because "the bloke he was smacking was kicking another steward that had been knocked to the ground". Like i say, I didnt see that but like most I may have been concentrating on what was happening up top.

No doubt Warrington will carry out an investigation, like they did against Hull and take appropriate action.

No doubt Cheshire police will request the footage and act accordingly.

No doubt some "no win no fee" solicitor will contact these thugs and offer to bring a case on their behalf for a breach of their "human" rights.

Salford never went bust.

Bit of an overreaction to an honest opinion. The stewards in that end have been overheard before now saying how they enjoy pushing people down the terrace steps for fun. That hardly helps the situation when people do kick off, does it?

Nice to see the replica shirt line being trotted out again. Plenty of proper RL fans go to games without feeling the need to put a polyester advertising board on.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu3fFK_uIrI This is a better shot. Not condoning what the very small minority of what Widnes fans did but surely this could have caused a riot.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu3fFK_uIrI This is a better shot. Not condoning what the very small minority of what Widnes fans did but surely this could have caused a riot.

Cannot see that myself as he was being held by two or three other stewards maybe he had done it before hand though.

I have no sympathy for the Widnes fans involved although i accept many were innocent but all clubs have a responsibility to deal with troublemakers as sometimes the innocent get drawn into it BUT i also have little sympathy for some stewards who are just complete thugs.
( i did start a thread last week on the Wigan board about their stewards being excellent and very friendly)

It needs a proper investigation by both clubs and dealing with in respect of fans and stewarding.

Just to Add a little context to that video,the stewards went to the back of the stand to apprehend whomever had let off the second smoke bomb of the night, which when thrown hit a Widnes fan on the head, then landed in the stand amongst family's

What the Widnes fan done was totally out of order and he should be banned for life, there's no need for that in our sport. What the steward done was nothing less than assault, this could have caused a full scale riot.

When you watch this video the steward dishing out the "uppercuts" is actually only hitting the Widnes fans arm in what appears to be an attempt to make him let go of the barrier. Not trying to justify the actions but pointing out that another view gives another interpretation. Sure the club and the police will view ALL the evidence, including whatever CCTV footage the club has of the incident, and make a balanced and thought out response.

Agreed, he's only using the official Wigan 'third man in' tackling technique.

The 'fan' is holding the barrier, the punches are to the top of his arms. That would be deemed 'reasonable force'.
Just because he's a gripper doesn't mean anything besides I wish it had been his face, if cowardly scum want to kick off in groups at matches they might think twice if they thought they'd get a few smacks around the face.
Ask yourself this, the steward is surrounded by police, do you not think he's not aware of that, he's trained and given a proportionate of legal backing to use force. These guys might look dumb but they not what they are doing and how to do it.

They did a sterling job in my opinion on this occasion.

First time I watched the video, it looked pretty bad. Watched it another couple of times though and it does look like the guy has hold of the steward so the steward is trying to punch the guy's arms to get free of him. Kind of like in games when you see a player strike the arm of another player who has hold of his shirt or arm but obviously this looks more aggressive. Not as bad as I first thought though.

You'll never succeed using things like facts on here

Not exactly sure what franchising / financial instability of clubs has to do with the actions of certain ' richard craniums '



over the years 30+ I've seen the odd fracas involving most teams fans* SL & Championship or supporters purporting to be clubs fans. mainly beer inspired spats

I've seen nothing to dispel my faith in RL as a sport that doesn't need segregation , with fans that are vociferous in support of their club but also approachable and add to the experience .

It's not just SL :- far worse
[url=http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/new-laws-urged-as-spectators-join-the-fight-20130817-2s3k3.htmlbrawling at suburban rugby league matches.[/url