Media - Double Standards

[midfielder]

Watching any commercial TV lately ... or listen to any commercial radio... I guess you heard about the brawl in Melbourne between 60 or AFL folk after a match... as Simon Hill said in his .. Can you smell the fear ... article .. neither did I...

Someone send in footage to a Melbourne Newspaper and it was reported and shown ... but imagine if this was SFC & MV fans ... think about the difference in media coverage and Australia wide talk back and so on... will soccer ever learn...

Even after the images from the paper a mate from Melbourne says it was hardly covered on the commercial TV stations ... in Sydney I have not seen it at all...

In the interest of balance this is one of those articles ... that need to be kept to compare if this kinda things ever happens at a Football match...

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/shocking-railway-group-brawl-at-southern-cross-station/story-e6frf7jo-1225889399143

SHOCKING footage has emerged of a savage train station brawl involving up to 50 people that almost resulted in a fall onto rail tracks.

The group stoush broke out at 10.10pm on Tuesday on platform 11 of Southern Cross Station as footy revellers made their way home from the EJ Whitten Legends game.

Witnesses said the fight started after a man produced a knife and threatened others on the platform.

In the footage obtained by heraldsun.com.au, dozens of brawlers are seen throwing punches as Metro staff try to control the crowd.

A Metro spokesman said the 10.16pm Frankston-bound train was delayed by nine minutes after the driver refused to move until police arrived.

Police arrived shortly after the fight broke out but were unable to act.

"Officers on the ground were told no one saw anything and that nothing happened, so there was not much they could do," a police spokeswoman said.

Various men involved in the melee have since bragged about their actions on social networking site Facebook.

"My jaw's sore as f--- but it was f---in sick true!" one posted.

"Had this c--- by his hoody throwing uppercuts ... then the black c--- dropped me," another posted.

The stoush, which followed a spate of recent attacks around the public transport network, has sparked calls for extra police and security staff at train stations.

Public Transport Users Association president Daniel Bowen said the frequency of attacks had left Victorians scared to use public transport.

"Even if you're not directly involved in these incidents, they discourage you from using public transport and in particular the train system at night," Mr Bowen said.

"We seem to have had a series of very concerning incidents at railway stations and it is a reminder we need more staff and more police on stations to mprove safety.

"Clearly there are too many of these types of incidents happening and the government needs to make changes," he said.

Opposition public transport spokesman Terry Mulder said it was time authorities took a "zero-tolerance approach" to street violence.

"The video will be extensively viewed worldwide. It portrays Melbourne as a city that has lost control over thugs who terrify innocent bystanders," he said.

"If ever there was a case for the Victorian Coalition's armed Victoria Police Protective Services Officers on railway station platforms, this is it.

"Under Labor, Victoria Police is unable to lay charges because no one was arrested at platforms 11 and 12 as soon as this vicious and disturbing fight broke out," he said.

Earlier this week police called for up to five men involved in a brawl at Noble Park railway station to hand themselves in.

Footage of a fight on Saturday night involving the group and two caucasian men was released in an effort to identify two of the culprits.

The fight, which occurred at about 11.10pm, broke out after four caucasian men began talking to one of the African men as they waited for a train on the platform.

A police spokesperson said an argument broke out which escalated into a fight which resulted in the two victims suffering serious head injuries.