This was published 9 years ago
Bulldogs Army calls for Canterbury fans to dob in troublemakers
By Adrian Proszenko
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The Bulldogs Army has encouraged its members to dob in troublemakers after the supporter group's image was again tainted by the ugly scenes at ANZ Stadium.
Six fans were ejected, two for throwing projectiles, after South Sydney claimed a contentious victory in the grand final rematch on Friday. NSW police, Canterbury and stadium officials were in the process of reviewing CCTV footage on Saturday to identify all the culprits. While ANZ Stadium officials regularly review crowd control measures, a venue spokesperson said it was unlikely security would be beefed up for Canterbury's next match at the ground, against St George Illawarra next Sunday.
The Bulldogs Army is one of the NRL's most colourful and vocal supporter groups. It gained notoriety when a minority of followers were involved in anti-social behaviour but, until Friday, had operated for many years without incident.
Bulldogs Army co-ordinator Marie Finianos supported calls for life bans for troublemakers to ensure an unruly minority didn't ruin the reputation of the Canterbury supporter base.
Bad dogs: David Klemmer and James Graham confront referee Gerard Sutton on Friday.Credit: Getty Images
"Obviously we don't condone that sort of behaviour, it's disgusting," Finianos said.
"We want those people banned, they are not true Canterbury supporters, that's not something we go out to do.
"Obviously supporters are upset at the [refereeing] decision, but at the end of the day, it's just a game and that sort of behaviour is not called for. We don't condone it, we hope they find them and kick them out because our reputation is being tarnished by a bunch of stupid idiots who shouldn't be at the game. It's not fair for any supporter.
"[Bulldogs chief executive] Raelene Castle and the club will find the people responsible and we shouldn't have any more issues from here onwards."
Bad Friday: a touch judge is hit by a bottle on Good Friday.Credit: Channel Nine
Some Bulldogs fans, upset at contentious refereeing decisions, threw projectiles at match officials as they made their way from the field.
Finianos urged witnesses to work with authorities in identifying the culprits.
"Definitely. If you are sitting with us in the Kennel yesterday, we were shouting out to those throwing bottles to stop doing it," she said.
"We are not out there to cause problems, the majority of supporters are there to support the team. We want those idiots out, they are not Canterbury supporters.
"The only way to deal with them is to kick them out when they do stupid things. Hopefully the CCTV footage can give us an indication of who they are and we can ban them for life.
"Obviously we get branded as rowdy and dirty supporters. That's fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
"We can tell you the majority of Canterbury supporters are not like that. We're working to get them out of our area so they never go to a game again. We don't want them in our supporter base."