Mayhem at park flared over a flag

Jeremy Keith was tackled by security as he tried to invade the field during the league match at Eden Park last Saturday night. Photo / Richard Robinson

Five men arrested for their part in the Eden Park rugby league debacle fought over a flag, it has been revealed.

Four were given warnings by police but 32-year-old electrician Henry Saafi has been charged with common assault. He entered no plea when he appeared in the Auckland District Court on Friday but said he would defend the charge. Another man was arrested for invading the pitch.

Saafi told the Herald on Sunday that the fracas happened after he bought a flag from another fan sitting about four rows in front of him just after the start of the second half of the test between the Kiwis and Australia.

"I paid him $20 for it and went back to my seat. I thought it was a done deal," he said.

"He obviously changed his mind and wanted it back. I said, 'dude, it's a done deal', but told him I would sell it back to him for $50."

Saafi said the man "kept going on" about the flag and would not go back to his seat.

"I told him he was starting to annoy me and told him three or four times to go away. That's when I pushed him and he fell backwards down the step."

The man's friends stepped in, followed by Saafi's - and the push turned to a scuffle, then a fight.

Security is being reviewed at Eden Park after the debacle, during what was the first big test of its new facilities.

Drunken spectators threw bottles on to the field and missiles at an Australian player.

Residents who live near the park said they were terrified by drunken fans as they left the ground. Some of the 44,500 fans vowed never to return to the ground to watch another game.

Saafi said security was poor. "If there had been more security I wouldn't be in the position I'm in now. I did not punch or hit anyone. I just pushed him away," he said.

Saafi was angry he was the only one who had been charged by police. He said there were more serious incidents which went unpunished.

"I saw people throwing punches, people getting their heads kicked. All this was happening and I'm the only one charged?

"I'm the only one in this situation out of 40,000-odd people? This thing has been blown out of proportion."

Saafi's work manager Simon Coulam was cautioned for fighting in a public place and workmates Wiremu Thompson and Ngarimu Ahipene for disorderly behaviour.

Alan Lennox, the man Saafi allegedly assaulted, was also cautioned for disorderly behaviour.

"We were sitting there watching," said Coulam, 38, "and saw a couple of other guys go over and it turned into a bit of a three-on-one job. We went down there to try and help a mate out and that's pretty much it.

"I think personally if the security had been up to scratch it would never have come to that. It was two guys having their little kerfuffle and it could have been stomped out by security quite easily. Then it wouldn't have turned into a big old stoush. Little wee things can turn into big things."

Coulam believed the crowd carnage at the end of the game was due to poor management of the food and beverage area at Eden Park.

"People couldn't get money out, they couldn't get food, they couldn't buy drinks. The queues were hundreds of metres long for everything. There was a bit of an atmosphere of p***ed-off people.

"And it didn't help that the game wasn't going as well as it could have," he said of the Kiwis' 34-20 loss.

Lennox didn't return calls to the Herald on Sunday.

Eden Park invader off

Pitch invader Jeremy Keith was front page news on Monday and he is just relieved not to have been facing a court charge.

He was instead cautioned for disorderly behaviour after jumping a barrier and running on to the field during the night of mayhem at Eden Park.

"When it comes down to it, the security wasn't top notch. I managed to jump a fence with a security guard sitting right there," he said.

"He was facing the crowd and it's his job to keep people off the field."

Keith said he knew what the consequences would be when he made the decision to run on to the field.

He would not say if he'd been banned from Eden Park.

He also refused to say whether he had been drinking, but said that he wasn't a hooligan.

"The worst thing would be that I came across as a f***wit."


anna.leask@hos.co.nz