A Penrith Brothers player has been charged with affray and reckless wounding in company over an incident following his side’s under-20s community game against Wentworthville Magpies in north Parramatta.
New South Wales police Supt Darryl Jobson said on Monday that the player, Bradley Wayne Middlebrook, 20, was sent from the field on Sunday for a shoulder charge on another player.
Tensions then spilled off the field, with Middlebrook allegedly confronting a 19-year-old Magpies player and two males, a 16-year-old and a 22-year-old, who were spectators.
A brawl ensued, with another 19-year-old man allegedly using a knife to stab the three males, including the Magpies player, in the neck.
All three injured remain in Westmead hospital receiving treatment.
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“What we saw yesterday was … behaviour which is not tolerated in our community, let alone at sporting matches,” Jobson said. “It seems it spilled from on-field to off-field.”
Several men allegedly fled the scene in a car and a search was conducted with help from PolAir, following which a 19-year-old was arrested at a home in Cambridge Park.
He was then taken to Nepean hospital under police guard for treatment to a cut hand and is likely to be charged with malicious wounding.
Middlebrook, of Kingswood, was arrested at Penrith police station just before 8pm on Sunday and his case was mentioned at Penrith local court on Monday.
He is on bail to return to court next week.
The NSWRL chief executive, David Trodden, said anyone involved in the north Parramatta brawl would never again play a role in the state league.
Both teams have been stood down pending the outcome of the police investigation.
“The incident is sickening,” Trodden said in a statement.
“Everyone who enjoys community sport at the weekend should expect to be able to do so in a safe environment and it is nothing short of appalling that an incident like this has taken place in an area adjacent to where one of our matches was being conducted.”