Brendan Fevola's revelation about daughter after AFL great caught up in wild scenes in NBL
The former Carlton and Brisbane player was sitting court-side when spectators got physically involved with players.
AFL great Brendan Fevola has revealed a warning from his daughter may have saved him from being involved in a wild brawl between NBL players and spectators on Sunday night. There were ugly scenes during the game between Melbourne United and Adelaide 36ers, with spectators ejected from the arena for putting their hands on United players and officials.
A melee was sparked between the players when Shea Ili took offence to a foul from Montrezl Harrell on veteran United centre Rob Loe. Once that died down, things took a nasty turn when a number of spectators got involved in a fracas with United players and officials on the bench.
At least one court-side spectator got involved in a physical altercation with Adelaide captain DJ Vasiljevic and general manager Matt Weston. Harrell and fellow import Kendric Davis then became involved, and security had to step in as things threatened to spill out of control.
Fevola, who regularly attends United home games, was sitting court-side with his daughters at the time. Speaking on The Fox's 'Fifi, Fev & Nick' radio show on Monday morning, the former Carlton and Brisbane player lifted the lid on the wild situation.
"I've never seen anything like it," he said. They have Montrezl Harrell, ex-NBA star. He's a bit of an 'I'm a big dog' style.' As much as I want to pot him (Harrell), it's always the spectator's fault."
Daughter's warning that prevented Brendan Fevola's involvement
Fevola revealed his daughter Lulu had warned him about sledging Harrell just minutes prior. “It was a bit heated for a good quarter-and-a-half. I said to my girls, ‘I’m going to get into this bloke’, and Lulu said please don’t dad, because he looks so angry," he revealed.
“At the start of the fourth quarter, there's a big foul, and the players punch on. It was a scuffle, and he (Harrell) punched one of our (United) players, Shea Ili, and it was on. It was on more than the Mike Tyson fight (against) Jake Paul. So, they depart to their benches while the ref overlooks the footage, and obviously they will get ejected.
"And then the supporters next to the coaches' box started chirping, and then they got up, and it was on - fans versus players. The Adelaide 36ers punched on with the (fans). Players, coaches, it was on! I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that. Obviously (I’ve seen it) with players, but never with fans.
"They're both to blame, but you can't touch the players. It was crazy! My girls were like, 'Aren't you glad now dad that you didn't chirp him because that would have been you in the fight.' I hope I wouldn't have, but you never know."
NBL coaches condemn spectators after shocking scenes
Sixers coach Mike Wells said he saw nothing wrong with what his players did, and the fans are the ones who stepped over the line. "That's part of our group coming together in a hostile environment and playing basketball," he said. "I don't want to have fight in the game and stuff, I never want to have that, we want to come here and compete, and take it right to the line and never cross the line.
"That's about competition and I think we all love competition, that's why we do what we do. There's one thing within the lines on the court and whatever happened out there, I saw a lot of guys instigating instead of separating, and that's not good. And then I saw fans instigating and that's not good. There's one thing on the court, but it can't happen with the fans. You pay your money and you can do anything you want, you just can't touch people."
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United coach Dean Vickerman also said he was happy with his team's response and condemned the spectators who got physical. "The fans are there to view the game and support the game, and you never want to see a crossover with players and fans, you want to see it the part of engagement and stuff like that," he said. "But obviously we've crossed the line in the game there where they've reacted to whatever's been said. It's something that we don't want to see."
with AAP
