On 21/05/2023 at 03:17, WalkingCivilWar said:

On Friday night a group of Port fans came down and stood in the aisle beside our bay to yell abuse at us, their main target being Ryan, our chant leader. We of course ignored them. Being ignored made them even angrier. More of them came down to join in the abuse. They clearly wanted a response so they began to grab our flags and gear and set about wrecking our stuff. Then a couple of them physically attacked Ryan. At this point security arrived and at least seven of them were ejected from the ground, the rest of them quickly left our area.

I mean, opposition supporters coming down to yell at us is nothing new. But because they get no response from us they quickly tire of it and retreat back to their own bay.

All along I’d been told why front row in the middle seats is safest at interstate matches (that’s where I’m always seated) but thought it was not really necessary. Sadly, I now know it is.

The world’s going to sht in a hand basket. We are surrounded by violence yet we expect this not to happen. There’s a fair chunk of football followers who are total lowlife scumbags. I’m an MCC member but far from a toff. The game against Collingwood last year my family and friends were verbally abused for the entire second half. I used to love the light hearted banter between opposition supporters but lately that’s just been replaced with incoherent abusive ramblings. No fun or joy in that. It’s a game FFS, we’re supposed to be able to enjoy it. 
Now we rely on underpaid, poorly trained, largely immigrant security forces to maintain civility. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:17, WalkingCivilWar said:

On Friday night a group of Port fans came down and stood in the aisle beside our bay to yell abuse at us, their main target being Ryan, our chant leader. We of course ignored them. Being ignored made them even angrier. More of them came down to join in the abuse. They clearly wanted a response so they began to grab our flags and gear and set about wrecking our stuff. Then a couple of them physically attacked Ryan. At this point security arrived and at least seven of them were ejected from the ground, the rest of them quickly left our area.

I mean, opposition supporters coming down to yell at us is nothing new. But because they get no response from us they quickly tire of it and retreat back to their own bay.

All along I’d been told why front row in the middle seats is safest at interstate matches (that’s where I’m always seated) but thought it was not really necessary. Sadly, I now know it is.

When I was younger, I was a bit of a DH and often had run ins with oppo  supporters. I had a big mouth and a big body so i I never really worried about it.

The behaviour you mention above though  is just plain bullying and I'm glad the knuckleheads were thrown out.

Sadly that behaviour is indicative of how society is at the moment.

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:17, WalkingCivilWar said:

On Friday night a group of Port fans came down and stood in the aisle beside our bay to yell abuse at us, their main target being Ryan, our chant leader. We of course ignored them. Being ignored made them even angrier. More of them came down to join in the abuse. They clearly wanted a response so they began to grab our flags and gear and set about wrecking our stuff. Then a couple of them physically attacked Ryan. At this point security arrived and at least seven of them were ejected from the ground, the rest of them quickly left our area.

I mean, opposition supporters coming down to yell at us is nothing new. But because they get no response from us they quickly tire of it and retreat back to their own bay.

All along I’d been told why front row in the middle seats is safest at interstate matches (that’s where I’m always seated) but thought it was not really necessary. Sadly, I now know it is.

I actually saw this incident and thought they were kicking a supporter on the ground but was told it was a flag on the ground what a bunch of twats.

You can't be surprised its Port after all, security did act swiftly though.

 

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:36, Roost it far said:

The world’s going to sht in a hand basket. We are surrounded by violence yet we expect this not to happen. There’s a fair chunk of football followers who are total lowlife scumbags. I’m an MCC member but far from a toff. The game against Collingwood last year my family and friends were verbally abused for the entire second half. I used to love the light hearted banter between opposition supporters but lately that’s just been replaced with incoherent abusive ramblings. No fun or joy in that. It’s a game FFS, we’re supposed to be able to enjoy it. 
Now we rely on underpaid, poorly trained, largely immigrant security forces to maintain civility. 

Sadly I won't be going on KB, solely due to the presence of so many subhuman filth people. They destroy any enjoyment of being at the G.

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:36, Roost it far said:

The world’s going to sht in a hand basket. We are surrounded by violence yet we expect this not to happen. There’s a fair chunk of football followers who are total lowlife scumbags. I’m an MCC member but far from a toff. The game against Collingwood last year my family and friends were verbally abused for the entire second half. I used to love the light hearted banter between opposition supporters but lately that’s just been replaced with incoherent abusive ramblings. No fun or joy in that. It’s a game FFS, we’re supposed to be able to enjoy it. 
Now we rely on underpaid, poorly trained, largely immigrant security forces to maintain civility. 

I called them Port fans but I’m not sure they were. They weren’t in the colours. They were clearly drunk and super belligerent. As for the security staff, they looked a little overwhelmed, especially since the situation escalated so quickly.

Personally, the irony is that I stumbled upon the Demon Army during a match early last year when I was leaving at halftime due to being made to feel scared by a Hawthorn supporter. I was on my own. A security guy brought me back into the ‘G and told me to sneak in to the area behind the goals “where you’ll feel safe.” Friday night eclipsed that day. That feeling of being scared returned and it’s something one never forgets. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:54, Winners at last said:

Sadly I won't be going on KB, solely due to the presence of so many subhuman filth people. They destroy any enjoyment of being at the G.

There’s no chance I’m going

That is not in!

I hope this gets reported to AO and Port. I doubt any of them want these types of people at games. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:54, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

I actually saw this incident and thought they were kicking a supporter on the ground but was told it was a flag on the ground what a bunch of twats.

You can't be surprised its Port after all, security did act swiftly though.

 

Security arrived once it turned physical. We had been ignoring their verbal abuse for a while. It was when they grabbed our gear and tried to snap flagpoles etc. that it became physical and when I say it became physical I mean that’s when our guys naturally tried to take our stuff back out of their hands, in a non-violent, non-aggressive way. The ferals saw this as open slather and pounced. We are well-known for being the most civil and well-behaved cheer squad, but we’re not gonna sit on our hands and watch these pigs wreck our stuff, stuff which we’ve paid for and which is dear to us. To see Ryan being physically hit by these morons was too much. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:56, WalkingCivilWar said:

I called them Port fans but I’m not sure they were. They weren’t in the colours. They were clearly drunk and super belligerent. As for the security staff, they looked a little overwhelmed, especially since the situation escalated so quickly.

Personally, the irony is that I stumbled upon the Demon Army during a match early last year when I was leaving at halftime due to being made to feel scared by a Hawthorn supporter. I was on my own. A security guy brought me back into the ‘G and told me to sneak in to the area behind the goals “where you’ll feel safe.” Friday night eclipsed that day. That feeling of being scared returned and it’s something one never forgets. 

Sorry to hear this WCW, they looked off their chops this pack of twats, if things got out of hand im sure more Demon supporting people would have jumped in to diffused the situation.

It should have to come to this but atleast you were amongst other Demon supporters. 

I don't take my kids to Port games for this reason unfortunately.

Edited May 21, 20231 yr by YesitwasaWin4theAges

  On 21/05/2023 at 04:00, Jaded No More said:

That is not in!

I hope this gets reported to AO and Port. I doubt any of them want these types of people at games. 

The thing is, I doubt if they are members, or even Port fans. They weren’t in colours and they attacked at a point in the match when Port were in front. They were locals and I heard they had free entry because it was the Sir Doug Nicholls round. Don’t know if that’s true but it would explain why they didn’t strike us as bona fide footy fans. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 04:06, WalkingCivilWar said:

Security arrived once it turned physical. We had been ignoring their verbal abuse for a while. It was when they grabbed our gear and tried to snap flagpoles etc. that it became physical and when I say it became physical I mean that’s when our guys naturally tried to take our stuff back out of their hands, in a non-violent, non-aggressive way. The ferals saw this as open slather and pounced. We are well-known for being the most civil and well-behaved cheer squad, but we’re not gonna sit on our hands and watch these pigs wreck our stuff, stuff which we’ve paid for and which is dear to us. To see Ryan being physically hit by these morons was too much. 

This may well constitute an assault - a matter for the police.

As Jaded and BB state state above it should be officially reported. There is a good chance the incident has been captured on security cameras and , if so , the perpetrators maybe brought to account.

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:54, Winners at last said:

Sadly I won't be going on KB, solely due to the presence of so many subhuman filth people. They destroy any enjoyment of being at the G.

I won’t let it stop me from attending the KB match, or any match, except for maybe vs Port in Adelaide again in the future. Collingwood supporters are indeed feral but Friday night was next level. I’m hoping it was a one-off but sadly it might be the rule rather than the exception. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 04:12, Bitter but optimistic said:

This may well constitute an assault - a matter for the police.

As Jaded and BB state state above it should be officially reported. There is a good chance the incident has been captured on security cameras and , if so , the perpetrators maybe brought to account.

I’m sure it was reported as I heard the police attended when they were kicked out. It was definitely assault, I saw Ryan being physically hit. Whether or not anything can be done is another thing entirely. I doubt if these people were regular footy-goers let alone members. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 04:18, WalkingCivilWar said:

I’m sure it was reported as I heard the police attended when they were kicked out. It was definitely assault, I saw Ryan being physically hit. Whether or not anything can be done is another thing entirely. I doubt if these people were regular footy-goers let alone members. 

It doesn’t matter if they are members or hobos off the street. You can’t physically assault someone! There would be security cameras all over the ground and at exists and this needs to be escalated. 
What stops these people from coming back next week and hitting a kid? 
People like that need to be dealt with by police. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 04:18, WalkingCivilWar said:

I’m sure it was reported as I heard the police attended when they were kicked out. It was definitely assault, I saw Ryan being physically hit. Whether or not anything can be done is another thing entirely. I doubt if these people were regular footy-goers let alone members. 

I reckon they scored themselves free tickets for the game, Police unfortunately would have let them go unless Ryan got seriously injured.

Don't let this ruin your future plans, Adelaide Oval is great place to watch footy.

I've never seen a pack approach the Demon supporters behind the goals in my time watching games in Adelaide.

I'd just put it down as a unfortunately occurrence of mindless twats looking for trouble and non was found, hopefully the police did take their details down but not holding my breath.

  On 21/05/2023 at 04:12, Bitter but optimistic said:

This may well constitute an assault - a matter for the police.

As Jaded and BB state state above it should be officially reported. There is a good chance the incident has been captured on security cameras and , if so , the perpetrators maybe brought to account.

A shame that the facial recognition software available is made only for humans at present. 

  On 21/05/2023 at 04:12, Bitter but optimistic said:

This may well constitute an assault - a matter for the police.

As Jaded and BB state state above it should be officially reported. There is a good chance the incident has been captured on security cameras and , if so , the perpetrators maybe brought to account.

Yep..  my 2nd thought was this might well constitute common assault. 

@Redleg

  On 21/05/2023 at 02:15, DemonWA said:

Impressive to see you still carrying so much rage 🔥

Completely cooked my weekend when the team plays like a bunch of wannabees on a Friday night.

  On 21/05/2023 at 04:57, jnrmac said:

Completely cooked my weekend when the team plays like a bunch of wannabees on a Friday night.

It doesn’t normally bother me but watching that with a Max getting belted leaves me sour

Security at the AFL is, on the whole, really nonsensical. There’s always tons around us, and Police standing at the end of the aisle - where it’s all Melbourne supporters with reserved seats. We all furiously agree with each other, so they serve no purpose - which I suspect they know and why they stand there.

All cheer squads should have allocated security guards at each ground. It’s not hard to put people in to support them. It should be a prerequisite.

@WalkingCivilWar this is a club matter. If they want our people to travel and support, they need to make their safety a priority.

  On 21/05/2023 at 02:19, DemonWA said:

We lost by 4 points after having alot of the play in the 2nd half. I get why we didnt mix too many things up in this game. 

Having said that, I do get the frustration. Teams have a plan to combat us, and if they're a good team and switched on it typically works for them. 

 

A win would have been hollow. And even during our first 10 rounds last year we were not playing good footy bar a few quarters here and there.

The problems are the same however and the manner in which we play big games, games when we are favoured or when teams play a specific way to try and beat us.

Aside from the great move of petty tagging McCartin against the Swans we rarely try to combat oppo players directly preferring to 'play our way'.

Well when playing our way isn't working, we need to do something differently.

We used to have a great record after half time as the coaches would adjust things and players would reset. Our final quarter record is good this year but we frustratingly allow teams to get a 'sniff' early way too many times.

  On 21/05/2023 at 05:04, jnrmac said:

A win would have been hollow. 

Yet somehow I would have found a way to love it.

  On 21/05/2023 at 03:56, WalkingCivilWar said:

I called them Port fans but I’m not sure they were. They weren’t in the colours. They were clearly drunk and super belligerent. As for the security staff, they looked a little overwhelmed, especially since the situation escalated so quickly.

Personally, the irony is that I stumbled upon the Demon Army during a match early last year when I was leaving at halftime due to being made to feel scared by a Hawthorn supporter. I was on my own. A security guy brought me back into the ‘G and told me to sneak in to the area behind the goals “where you’ll feel safe.” Friday night eclipsed that day. That feeling of being scared returned and it’s something one never forgets. 

You should not be made to feel scared at a sporting event or anywhere else for that matter.

If Ryan was physically attacked that is assault and he should report it to the Police, the AFL and Ground Management and Port Power.

Threatening you and others and putting you in fear of your safety is also an assault and you should be doing likewise.

Ringing and emailing news outlets and radio should also be considered.

We don’t need our sport’s enjoyment being damaged by drunken thugs.

Sorry you had that experience, but from what I have heard and seen, the time I went to watch us play in Adelaide, it’s not new or an isolated incident.

No wonder inexperienced umpires are too scared to umpire properly in Adelaide.

Edited May 21, 20231 yr by Redleg

Nothing much has changed since the 70,s

after the game picking up the flags, banners and stuff  Adelaide at times was not good, Essendon the worst , Richmond or Collingwood and it was never the other cheer squad supporters.

It was always rifraff looking for a blue. All the cheer squad would support each other. That group feeling was unreal, rough at times but a bond.

  On 21/05/2023 at 02:16, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

We are a marking based side once we have rain affected games one of our major strengths is diminished.

Our midfield is big bodied not suited to wet conditions, Ports midfield is smaller, more agile and suited the conditions down to the ground.

We got taught a lesson in wet weather footy for 3 quarters on ground and inside the coaches box.

I hope we have come away from this experience better prepared for these conditions in a cut throat final.

I must say i was very surprised that Melksham wasn't considered for Friday night as he is a wet weather specialist.

In hindsight JVR should have made way for Melk.

Morere importantly Harmes would have been more useful as well as a tagger and tougher in those conditions. So would haveSparrow so there wasn't the great team pressure that we are looking for. 
Yes Melky might have been better but the experience for JVR might bring his development on quicker. 
Gawny seemed completely to flounder with the conditions and agsin Port ( like in 2019 ) seemed incapable of influencing the game. We don't seem to have some B graders or roleplayers who are capable of changing the course of the game especially when changes are necessary . 

That's  if our Coaches are up to even thinking of changes and then acting with some footy mouse. Then the players have to accept that they are being changed and be up to the task. 

we were completely confused in Brisbane Adelaide vs Dons and looked stunned on Friday night and lose our structure confidence and wait for a reaction from one of our champs to show the way.

Our comeback was great and proved we can adapt and keep our ability but just not for long enough. In 2021 we round have won but as another post said let's look ahead and of now not back. It's irrelevant except for learning.

I believe we have 25 players of good / very good standard but the mix,  game plan, and mind games in our head are vital as that little bit of luck for the ultimate result is gained. Now I believe we are behind Pies Lions and Port and equal with Dogs and Cats for  flag favouritism. 

How we end up is going to be fascinating  as it is harder than ever before to win a flag. A real challenge in fact.