Pitch invasions raise concern after weekend’s NRL games interrupted | NRL

Wests Tigers Captain James Tamou wants the actions of a protester carrying a flare to serve as a wake-up call for NRL officials after four mid-match pitch invasions at Pointsbet Stadium.

In a Bizarre sequence of events, play was stopped for several minutes during the Tigers’ loss to Cronulla on Sunday after a protester entered the field with a smoking orange flare in hand.

The man, draped in a red “Fireproof Australia” banner, was able to get within touching distance of players before he was stopped by security and was at one point held by Tigers lock Joe Ofahenguae.

He was removed from the field, but shortly after three spectators entered the field as ground staff attempted to extinguish the after-effects of the flare. He was arrested and on Monday fined and sentenced to three months in Prison after pleading guilty to two charges in Sutherland Local Court – Entering enclosed land without lawful excuse and possessing a bright light distress signal in a public place.

The incident came just a day after a female pitch Invader was Heavily tackled by security on the Gold Coast in Parramatta’s win over the Titans on Saturday night.

Questions will be raised over how the man was able to get a flare into the ground, and why he was able to get so close to players with it in hand.

“To get that close to the players, things like that, who knows what his Intentions were,” Tamou said. “Luckily nothing happened but hopefully this situation puts a bit more urgency into upcoming games.”

Cronulla Captain Dale Finucane also expressed frustration over the incident.

“It obviously disrupted the game with a flow of it,” Finucane said. “I think the people who will be now disappointed will be our grounds people and people who work so hard behind the scenes.”

On Saturday, the tackle that brought down the female pitch Invader at the Gold Coast’s Cbus Super Stadium was labeled over-the-top by the Titans’ chairman, Dennis Watt.

“There needs to be a review of what happened,” Watt told News Corp.. “From where I was sitting it did seem heavy-handed. It could have been handled better.

“You heard this collective intake of breath around the ground. It did seem over the top and it put the intruder at real physical risk.

“In general security does a very good job protecting fans and the players. The people who run the ground do a fantastic job.

“However, on this occasion the fan could have been contained more easily than that without the risk of injury.”