Cat-Fighting in Geelong

Seems that two toms from the Geelong footy team were out on the prowl over the weekend. Naturally, the night ended up in the police cells.

Cats forwards Steve Johnson and Andrew Mackie have each been charged with being drunk in a public place.

Mackie was celebrating his 21st birthday at Home House nightclub before the alleged fight at 3am yesterday. (Herald Sun, 8/5/05)

Grrrr ... Meow!! Hiss! Ftzzz!

So the police charged the two naughty kitties with being "drunk in a public place" - a ludicrous notion given that about 85% of Geelong is drunk in public at 3am. Especially at a dodgy nightclub. If anything, police should forcibly administer alcohol to anyone found sober at Home House!

Makes you wonder what was really going on, given that these two spent the night locked up in the police cattery.

Hmmm. But, as Geelong Football Club CEO Brian Cook spun it:

"The police also confirmed the players were not disorderly." (Herald Sun, 8/5/05)

Ah well, thank God for small mercies, hey? Still, Channel 7 is reporting that the police needed two cans of capsicum to subdue the pair "Mackie lunged at a police officer trying to break up a fight outside the club. " (If they can't keep their claws in, perhaps these two cats should be neutered!)

While we don't speculate here at The Speccy, we do sometimes wonder aloud about the special treatment offered to AFL players. Historically, the police employ a range of charges in bar brawls: disorderly conduct, public nuisance, assaulting police, resisting arrest, offensive behaviour. But these guys get "drunk in public". A case of small-town heroes - or do cats have nine lives?

Citations: Herald Sun, 8/5/05

Word Count: 296

Tags: footy, bashing, court, booze