A public assault that bordered on attempted murder was witnessed by Australian Rules Football fans and television viewers watching Friday night’s match between the Hawthorn Hawks and North Melbourne Kangaroos.
Watch this crazy video, as Hawthorn’s Brian Lake literally almost strangles North Melbourne’s Drew Petrie unconscious. If not for a teammate intervening things may have gotten much worse in a hurry:
According to the official AFL website, Lake has been charged with misconduct and his case is pending AFL Tribunal review. Drew Petrie spoke to The Sunday Footy Show, to explain his side of the incident:
“In the beginning, I am certainly getting involved in the scuffle, no denying that. I think I was just going to grab something because he had me, so I wanted to grab him in some part of his body and I grabbed his face. I didn’t mean to gouge or scratch him, I’m sure come (today) there will be something go on and we might hear more about it, but I’m reluctant to go into too much detail. If it was my doing putting the scratch on his face, I didn’t mean to scratch him. I’m not a scratcher or a gouger, or anything like that. I was engaged, initially, as well and then I put my arms down hoping that we would both stand up and run back to position. We managed to keep going on there, so I had to get back involved.”
He has been slapped with a one-match suspension for his part in the fight.
[h/t AFL, Bleacher Report]