The match review specialist’s conclusions from Saturday’s 17th round games have been put into action.
Ben Long, Brayden Maynard and Bailey Humphrey meet during Gold Coast’s Round 17 match against Collingwood, 2026. Photo: AFL Photos
BRADEN Maynard and Tuk Miller were each fined $5000 but avoided suspension for making contact with a referee on Saturday night, while Gold Coast forward Ben Long served a two-match ban for a strike that sparked a wild brawl at half-time.
A further 14 players were fined for their involvement in the massive brawl at People First Stadium, with a total of 37 sanctions and fines amounting to more than $60,000 handed down during a wild football Saturday.
Maynard and Miller both made contact with referee Nick Brown as Maynard lunged at Long as the half-time siren sounded, just seconds after Long had knocked Maynard down with a body kick following Bailey Humphrey’s goal.
Intentional contact with the referee had previously resulted in serious disqualifications, but the match official instead classified the pair’s actions as “engaging in any other misconduct” and fined both players $5,000 each.
The MRO determined that the pair’s actions exceeded the threshold that would normally be a lesser fine for reckless contact with a judge, but did not constitute an offense that would require him to refer the case directly to the Tribunal.
“Maynard and Miller were charged with “engaging in any other misconduct” in accordance with the fixed financial offenses schedule in Schedule 1 of the AFL Rules. The sanction for such an offense is at the absolute discretion of the Match Officer, who has determined that both players must pay a fine of US$5,000, with no reduction available for early guilty pleas,” the AFL said in a statement.
“The Match Review Officer determined that these matters did not constitute a direct Tribunal offense of Intentional Contact with a Referee.” In addition, the Match Officer also determined that these were not matters that constituted the fixed financial offense of ‘Unreasonable or unnecessary contact with a referee’ or ‘Reckless contact with a referee’, particularly as the sanctions provided for such a fixed financial offense were inadequate in all the circumstances and did not reflect their seriousness.
“The AFL will not comment further on these matters until they are completed, noting that the allegations may be challenged in the AFL Tribunal by Maynard and/or Miller.”
It remains to be seen whether Collingwood or Gold Coast will be fined by the AFL as part of the League’s crackdown on careless contact with a referee. Maynard’s sanction was Collingwood’s fifth for contact with a referee this season, a threshold the Suns reached last month before the AFL fined them $20,000. The Pies could now also face a similar sanction, while the Suns could be sanctioned again given Miller’s fine is the club’s sixth of the season.
Long, meanwhile, was suspended for two weeks for striking Maynard, which was classified as intentional, bodily contact and strong force. He is set to miss matches against Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs.
A total of 17 players, including Maynard, Miller and Long, were fined for their involvement in the melee that dominated the bout, with fines handed down totaling $41,500, although that amount could be reduced with an early guilty plea.
A further five players were fined for hand-to-hand fighting in Richmond’s match against Carlton on Saturday night, while a further four players were fined for hand-to-hand fighting in Greater Western Sydney’s match against Fremantle on Saturday afternoon.
Giants captain Toby Green was one of that quartet and also received an additional $1,500 for “other misconduct” towards Caleb Serong.
These are the 33rd and 34th sanctions of Greene’s career, bringing his total career fines to $52,725.
In total, the AFL issued $63,500 in fines across 37 sanctions over Saturday’s four games, a figure that will be reduced by early guilty pleas.
Toby’s track record
Appearances: 277
Sanctions: 34
Disqualifications: 16 matches.
Fines: $52,725*
*with early call for sanctions at R17 2026