http://www.ntnews.com.au/sport/papun...-1227551917700
TWO brawls involving as many as 150 people have ended a football carnival in Papunya and put a man in hospital.
The injured man was hit in the head with what was believed to be a wheel brace and flown to Alice Springs with non-life threatening injuries.
It came during the final between teams from Hermannsburg and Haasts Bluff when spectators rushed the field at about 2.30pm on Tuesday.
Acting Superintendent Michael Potts said the melee was believed to have involved between 100-150.
He said the tension was sparked about an hour earlier when a similar number of people ran onto the field for a brawl during the Hermannsburg and Mt Liebig game.
Officials had managed to clear the field and resume, but the carnival was cancelled when the second fight erupted.
Acting Superintendent Potts said an off-duty sergeant at the carnival raised the alarm and ran to the aid of a woman who was believed to have been knocked out.
Supporting officers came from neighbouring stations including Yuendumu and Kintore
Community sources familiar with the incident suggested many who had run onto the ground were not actually involved in the fighting.
They said a recent death may have contributed to the tension.
Acting Superintendent Potts said there was sorry business in the area he did not believe it to be a cause.
"A lot of these things will happen when some communities get together at times when normally they probably wouldn't be together," he said.
"There may be some underlying issues there, unresolved issues from the past, and basically that results in minor disputes and unfortunately they an escalate from there."
He said most outsiders, including the teams involved, had left the community.
TWO brawls involving as many as 150 people have ended a football carnival in Papunya and put a man in hospital.
The injured man was hit in the head with what was believed to be a wheel brace and flown to Alice Springs with non-life threatening injuries.
It came during the final between teams from Hermannsburg and Haasts Bluff when spectators rushed the field at about 2.30pm on Tuesday.
Acting Superintendent Michael Potts said the melee was believed to have involved between 100-150.
He said the tension was sparked about an hour earlier when a similar number of people ran onto the field for a brawl during the Hermannsburg and Mt Liebig game.
Officials had managed to clear the field and resume, but the carnival was cancelled when the second fight erupted.
Acting Superintendent Potts said an off-duty sergeant at the carnival raised the alarm and ran to the aid of a woman who was believed to have been knocked out.
Supporting officers came from neighbouring stations including Yuendumu and Kintore
Community sources familiar with the incident suggested many who had run onto the ground were not actually involved in the fighting.
They said a recent death may have contributed to the tension.
Acting Superintendent Potts said there was sorry business in the area he did not believe it to be a cause.
"A lot of these things will happen when some communities get together at times when normally they probably wouldn't be together," he said.
"There may be some underlying issues there, unresolved issues from the past, and basically that results in minor disputes and unfortunately they an escalate from there."
He said most outsiders, including the teams involved, had left the community.