Really agree, can't stand the mail with its anti rugby league bias.

To be fair, it's probably not RL specifically that the Mail hate, but it's no doubt a close analogy for them to what they really despise. We're a working class sport, patronised by the lower echelons of society-or spun to their agenda, Neanderthal northern dole-ites, scrapping with their own kind who made a bit better than them by virtue of being built like the proverbial out-house. It's entirely consistent with their view of the world, and this incident will be taken as confirmation of what they and their readers already know.

Next thing you know there will be an embargo on the rah rah brigade poaching our better players to turn into scapegoats for losing the next world cup.

It seems to be becoming a regular thing - fighting in the stands for all clubs not just Salford. I think the RFL need to send out a message especially now this in the media putting the sport into a bad light. Maybe it is time to start making clubs who have crowd trouble to play behind closed doors for a game to punish them. It may be only a small minority of fans but they will ruin it for the majority and a quick way to stamp this out would be to send a message to all clubs.

First thing that will happen probably a drinks ban on the terraces, thanks a lot scumbags.

Have Salford got enough fans to cause a riot ?

I don't think it's just drink, you don't know what half of these people are taking these days. Having an attitude problem seems to be the norm these days.

Perhaps RL should follow football's example and ban booze from the terraces. One of the reason's I jacked it in(though not the main one) was being continually made to stand up, sit down, stand up sit down, stand up sit down to let the ale cans feed their habit. Can't they just forgoe the ale for a couple of hours ? They often spoiled my enjoyment of my prawn sandwiches.

I would be much worse watching the match without a drink, it calms my nerves



On a serious note, it is a very valuable source of income for clubs so there is no chance alcohol would be banned. And the way the law works the Salford players could also find themselves in some trouble with the CPS as much as the 'supporters' causing the affray.

I don't have kids but one constant I've witnessed through my life is, when kids are distressed, parents are distressed, when kids are in fear, parents will act.

Can you blame guys full of testosterone, to jump in and batter guys they think are harming their kids?

Not in the slightest but unfortunately the law might not see it in the same way as we do. It isn't always the initial aggressor who gets prosecuted, especially if it isn't seen as 'reasonable force'.

The whole thing should not have been allowed to escalate, can't believe there was no Police presence.

ive only ever seen rugby fans fight among themselves TWICE... and both times it was Salford.

We are no angels, it has happened among our fans as well, once at the DW Stadium.

Have people actually seen the photos/videos of this? Mostly they consist of people standing around. Sure, something happened, but it would seem totally minor. Bar one picture of Junior Sau pinning a fella to the floor, there's nothing to suggest there was any serious agro, apart from a load of overblown headlines.

My work's network run through a foreign server, so I get the BBC's global webpage when I log on. Along with the latest on an EgyptAir hijack, the latest on the Brussels bombing, news that the FBI have broken into a terrorists iPhone, there our great sport is, with a headline that 'Children's lives [were in danger'. That's a quote from Jermaine McGillvray, who also says 'I don't think anyone was seriously hurt', and 'There were newborn kids who were being trampled on and getting thrown about'. Now I've yet to see/hear confirmation of the latter, or even that anyone was actually struck. So basically, the crowd got rowdy, there were a couple of idiots, players (totally understandably, and from what I've seen so far, proportionally) reacted by getting in there and making sure their kin were OK, a few people filmed folk standing around, and a couple of players make some very loose comments post-match. And for that the sport is global headline news??

I'm not normally one to bemoan our press coverage, as I think we should be more proactive, but from where I'm sat the biggest issue here isn't the incident, minor as it appears, but the totally dis-proportionate coverage.

Correct. McGillvray's quotes are ridiculous and don't help at all. There is a video knocking around but it doesn't show much. The players going in to the stand don't help, but the blame must go to the people that got angry to the fact that a steward grabbed a pitch invader.

Beeb are loving this story too

2012 Grand Final i saw two separate fights of Leeds v Leeds fans one before the game and one during the game.

The BBC local news said there was a smoke bomb thrown near where the players families were & other non involved spectators. I'm sure it said one child had minor hospital treatment too.

A few Salford fans on social media playing the 'It Was Football Thugs Causing The Trouble' card. Was it the same thugs who were fighting amongst themselves at HJ a couple of years ago ?

It wasn't football fans.
It was members of an amateur RL team on a stag night.
The stewards had two opportunities to deal with them, first when they refused to give the ball back and taunted the stewards.
Later the same group lit a smoke bomb again the stewards allowed them to stay if they'd dealt with it when some families complained we could of avoided all the bad publicity.
As for not seeing fans fighting amongst themselves I take it we've forgotten magic weekend when both Leeds and Cas fans fought amongst themselves.

Let's all calm down.
Some people have acted like Berks at a rugby match. It happens.
As far as I know, no-one's been admitted to hospital. There wasn't running battles. There's no scenes akin to the Poll Tax riots, just some still shots on a few websites, and Sky Sports News have 24 hour rolling coverage to fill.

It's tomorrow's chip paper, and will all be forgotten about by Friday.
Guess what, there's scum about. Some of them attend Rl matches.
I just hope if there's any conclusive proof of wrong doing, the appropriate fines/sentences are dished out.
Basically, the whole seedy episode has been totally blown out of proportion.

The good doctor has been attempted to be interviewed on SSN. Conveniently for him, the line went dead.

I agree with the sentiments LG however it's this type of overblown coverage that sets our game back. The amount of negative press coverage on this is insane, mainly from rags that would not lower themselves to actually do things like have weekly RL match reports or interviews.

This is still extremely rare in our sport. Hence the hyperbole by the media.

Football fans behave like this regularly (outside the grounds), but it doesn't get reported on, as it doesn't fit the super-shiny all encompassing image that the media have given football, since the birth of the Premier League, and Euro 96. It doesn't fit their agenda, anymore.

Could you imagine seeing opposing Premier League team's fans standing/sitting shoulder to shoulder, and having a beer as well. No. Thought not. That gets ignored by the media. I've more chance of having a pooh in the Queen's handbag, than that happening between football fans. Let alone them drinking in the same pub. The landlord would have a heart attack.

Let the media have their little gloat. As I said. Tomorrow's chip paper

I hope your right.

The photo of Jr Sau, published in most of the national press, of him standing over a spectator applying a stranglehold does the sport no favours. It's assault at the very least.