Football game assault was 'like a cage fight'

The captain of a South West football club deliberately kneed an opponent with such force that it "smashed in" half of his rival's face and was akin to "something out of a cage fight", a jury was told yesterday.

Opening the case against Matthew Drew Blackford on a charge of grievous bodily harm, prosecutor Linda Keane said the Collie Eagles captain had a "brain snap" when he engaged in a serious act of violence during his side's clash with the Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault Lions.

Ms Keane told the District Court in Busselton that the "deliberate and wilful" knee to the head had fractured the face of Lions midfielder Aaron Murphy in four places.

He needed surgery to insert three metal plates.

Mr Blackford, who has pleaded not guilty to the charge, was given a red card and taken off the ground after the clash midway through the second quarter of the South West Football League game in Collie on August 31, 2013.

"His actions were not only outside the rules of the game but also the laws of our community," Ms Keane said. "It was not a move that was in any way consistent with a legal tackle. Rather, it was like something out of a cage fight."

Defence lawyer David Walls told the jury country football was founded on teammates' loyalty and club rivalry and it was unfortunate that from time to time players were hurt, sometimes seriously.

He said the contact between Mr Blackford's knee and Mr Murphy's head had been unintentional and took place in a scuffle during the course of the game.

But Mr Walls said loyal members of the Lions would be "looking to put the boots in" to support their teammate. "It is a simple theory that the harder you go, the harder you come off," he said.

"The reality is Mr Murphy and Mr Blackford loved their footy and they loved to play it hard."

Mr Murphy, who could recall little of the incident, gave evidence that Mr Blackford had at one stage said to him: "You're dead."

Matthew Bicknell, one of another five Lions players to give evidence yesterday, said Mr Murphy had been awarded a free kick after a high tackle by Mr Blackford.

Mr Bicknell said Mr Murphy was getting up from the ground when Mr Blackford grabbed the back of his jumper, placed a hand on the back of his head and kneed him in the face.

The trial continues.