AFL journalist Damian Barrett says several Geelong players genuinely feared for their safety as the crowd rushed onto the SCG surface following Lance Franklin’s 1000th goal on Friday.
While Barrett himself was in support of the celebration surrounding the historical moment, he says individuals from both Geelong and Sydney have stated they didn’t feel safe among the raucous crowd.
Speaking on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show, Barrett revealed that Jeremy Cameron was “smashed” by revellers while a pair of Cats were “genuinely fearful” in what’s meant to be a safe working environment.
“I’ve now spoken to several people from both clubs, there was genuine fear coming from some of the people involved,” Barrett said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“A Geelong player (said), ‘It was genuinely extraordinary and dangerous. We had so many players deliberately run into, it wasn’t funny. Great for Bud, but Christ it was dangerous’, that’s the sentiment reflecting a lot of situations coming from the Cats.
“What I can tell you is that Jeremy Cameron was smashed in the fracas and the hoards of people that ran out onto the ground.
“Both Jack Henry and Tom Atkins had moments where they were genuinely fearful about what was going to happen.
“There were at least six Geelong players who were very worried about what was going to happen with people running on, filming themselves either with tripod type arrangements on their mobile phones or just holding the phones themselves.
“It was chaos.”
"There was genuine fear there with some of the people involved."@barrettdamian reports on the chaos at the SCG after Lance Franklin's 1000th goal. #9AFLSFS - Watch on @Channel9 pic.twitter.com/GWY5pxySJX
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) March 26, 2022
Sydney CEO Tom Harley said via a statement that he wasn’t aware of any formal complaints as a result of the incident.