Marlion Pickett furore takes new twist as egg-throwing incident comes to light

New vision has emerged of the moment Marlion Pickett walked back towards a fan who touched him on the back during an ugly incident in Richmond's clash with the Western Bulldogs on Friday night. The AFL launched an investigation into the incident at Marvel Stadium and has since hit the fan with a ban after they reached over the fence to touch Pickett.

The Richmond utility didn't take kindly to the fan's actions and knocked a drink out of their hand. On Monday, new vision came to light of Pickett walking back towards the crowd at three-quarter time in an apparent attempt to engage with the fan again.

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The vision, shown on AFL.com's 'Access All Areas', shows Pickett's teammate Daniel Rioli accompanying him as he walks towards the crowd. "This will be part of the AFL working through the situation," journalist Damien Barrett said in regards to the new footage.

"This is not ideal and the interaction with players at any stage of the game is not on. There's been a few isolated moments and this is not a good one. That person will receive a ban of sorts."

Barrett also highlighted a second unsavoury incident to come out of the game after some spectators were spotted hurling eggs towards players from high up in the grandstand. Barrett reported that a number of teenagers were identified as the culprits and removed from Marvel Stadium.

"That is a dangerous thing to be doing from that height," Barrett said. "It happened several times during the game and had to be cleaned up. The teenagers were identified and ejected. It can't be happening."

AFL fan banned over Marlion Pickett incident

Pickett was spotted having a long conversation with Richmond football boss Tim Livingstone before the final quarter began on Friday night, which the 31-year-old started sitting on the bench. The AFL reviewed security footage into a report from the match manager at Marvel Stadium to understand exactly what happened.

The league has since slapped the fan with a ban from attending all games until the end of 2024. They were not a registered member of any AFL club.

"While in normal circumstances we embrace player and fan interaction after a game, what happened at last night's game is not acceptable and the AFL will work through it in the coming days," AFL spokesperson Jay Allen told AAP.

Interim Richmond coach Andrew McQualter said it was "disappointing" the incident happened. "I don't know full details, but it shouldn't happen," he said.

"We love fans in our game, and they're so critical to our game, but our players should never ever be touched when they're on the football field. I think all Marlion was doing was alerting Tim (Livingstone) to the fact that something happened, and just getting security to deal with it and the AFL will deal with it now."

Fox Footy’s Jordan Lewis said: “You never ever, ever, ever touch a player on the ground – I don’t care who you are. That fan right there should be banned for life.

“I would hope that that fan was ejected straight away and the right process and protocol should be followed. It’s a no-go zone – that should be worldwide in any sport. That’s why the fence is there, to separate the fans from the players because people can get heated.”

with AAP

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