AFL identifies culprit who threw nachos at young family after Brisbane-Hawthorn MCG thriller

The father of a young Brisbane fan who had nachos thrown on him at the MCG says his family is scared to return to the footy.

Dreadful scenes after the Lions’ pulsating preliminary-final victory over Hawthorn last Saturday night saw Hawks fans pelting cans and bottles onto the ground and at the umpires in disgust.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Young fan hit with nachos as unruly crowd mars MCG epic

The Hawthorn faithful were filthy over three contentious but ultimately correct umpiring decisions in the dying stages of the thrilling contest, the last of which saw Jarman Impey pinged for holding the ball by Hugh McCluggage, who then kicked the go-ahead goal.

And as they took their frustrations out in the chaotic moments after the final siren, a number of innocent fans got caught in the crosshairs.

One six-year-old Lions fan was taken to hospital where he required stitches after copping a full can to the head, while another Brisbane fan and his mum had nachos thrown at them.

Nick, the father and husband of the nacho victims, was away for the weekend and only found out when a video of the incident was sent into their family group chat.

“Once I saw it, I called to see what was going on, if they were alright and all that,” Nick told Triple M’s Mick in the Morning on Tuesday.

“They were pretty shaken up just dealing with it.

“I didn’t get to really speak to him (my son) too much then. I ended up speaking to them once they got home.

“My wife was shaken up, when I spoke to my boy he was really shaken up too, and I was like, ‘It’s nacho fault, boy’.

“Just got to find the opportunity to throw a dad joke in. I knew they weren’t physically hurt.

“My son was there part of the Auskick program, he was super excited, I was gutted I was away that weekend, I couldn’t be there with him.”

Speaking to 7NEWS Melbourne on Monday, the mother said it’s made them reluctant to go back to the footy.

“We were scared after that to wear our Brisbane Lions merchandise in case someone targeted us again,” she said.

“I feel scared to go again, and feel like I can’t protect my son.”

But Nick said his family is appreciative of the immediate communication and support they’ve had from all relevant officials.

“AFL have been in touch with us, the CEO of Hawthorn (Ashley Klein) has been in touch with us, the MCG’s been in touch with us,” he said.

“Everyone around has been great — just not the coward who threw the nachos. It’s rubbish.

“We found out yesterday the MCG and AFL have organised tickets for us to go as a family, which is awesome for them to do that for us.

“But (my son is) not too keen, to be honest, he’s like, ‘Maybe we should just watch it from home’. But nah, we’re gonna go.

“We’re gonna teach him not to be a coward and just be like, nah, we did nothing wrong.”

Nick said his wife remains “a bit shocked from it all. It’s just unfathomable”.

“I’m pretty sure they have found him (the perpetrator),” he added.

Behaviour was not much better on the field either, with James Sicily copping a $10,000 fine and Tom Barrass $5000 for their demonstrative exchange with umpire Hayden Meyer — who correctly paid the Impey holding the ball free kick — after the siren.

Reflecting on Monday morning, Mitchell said he had noticed “there was a fair bit happening” and urged his players in an impromptu huddle to “act with humility”.

“You would’ve seen after that we walked off and gave a clap to some of the people who were still there,” the Hawks coach told SEN.

“Obviously some of the things that we’ve found out since, there was a very small portion of those fans who didn’t act appropriately, which has sort of soured what was probably one of the greatest games of all time.

“Disappointing that a few fans decided to throw things and not act appropriately. That was a bit disappointing.”

But Mitchell confirmed that at the time he had not been aware Sicily and Barrass had teed off at umpire Hayden Meyer in the chaos of the Jarman Impey free kick, Hugh McCluggage goal and final siren.

“I must admit I didn’t see that at all. I hadn’t seen that or heard about that at all. I just saw on the ground there was a lot of debris,” he said.

“I hadn’t seen any of that (with the players). I assumed that was all happening while we were coming back down from the coaches box. I wasn’t across that.

“I read a story about a young eight-year-old who had nachos thrown at them at the footy.

“I think one of the great things, I’ve been on record about this regularly, saying how good is Aussie rules footy that you can just take anywhere, you can sit anywhere and you can feel safe all the time. And I think we lost that for a moment after the game.

“I don’t think that’s ever what anyone wants so making sure we behave appropriately, which goes to our players as well, going towards umpire after game is I don’t think appropriate behaviour either.”