Railways coach Rhett Pettit said a decision to forfeit Saturday’s Goldfields Football League clash with Boulder before half-time, amid unprecedented scenes at Digger Daws Oval when teenager Judd McKay was seriously injured, was his call and one he vehemently stood by in the aftermath.
Play in the second term had ticked over six minutes when McKay was flattened at half-back by Boulder’s Brett Blair — sparking wild scenes as the Panthers’ players moved in to retaliate.
Blair was red-carded, Railways’ Jordon Reid earned a yellow card and his teammate Chris Yarran left the field of play to remonstrate with opposition supporters.
McKay, meanwhile, was motionless on the ground and both teams and the umpires left the field as attention quickly turned to assessing his condition that created a long delay and fuelled conjecture about the status of the game.
By the time an ambulance arrived to take McKay to hospital, GFL commissioners were deep in talks with the club officials and coaches.
Many expected the match would either resume from the six-minute-mark or after an early break for half-time but league chairman Steve Wojtowicz confirmed Railways’ decision to forfeit and that the four premiership points would go the way of Boulder.
The official scoreline, however, and how it impacted percentages in the overall standings was being investigated.
“They (Railways) forfeited but now we have to speak with the WA Country Football League for clarification because the game wasn’t even halfway through,” Wojtowicz said.
“There’s nothing in our bylaws that have explanations for something like this — it’s only if the lights go out or there’s thunder and lightning and a game is called off.
“This is actually the first time I’ve seen something like this happen.”
Pettit on Sunday said McKay had suspected broken ribs and internal bleeding.
“I really couldn’t care less what the result was,” Pettit said.
“My concern, and probably those of the club as well, was for Judd McKay and at that stage we suspected he might have a spinal injury.
“Our care shifted from a game of footy to Judd’s health and I stand by that decision every day (and) I’m very comfortable with the decision.
“At the end of the day, everyone’s going to have their opinion on it and they’re entitled to it.
“But we spoke to our (team) leaders and our players weren’t in the right mental space to consider playing.
“I think it (the delay) was 45 minutes or more and that’s pretty harsh to ask the boys to do another warm-up, play 10 minutes to half-time and then do another warm-up.
“It’s a game of football, we wake up this (Sunday) morning and a 17-year-old is in hospital.
“That’s what our concern was and I’d make the same decision today, too.”
Pettit said he had not had enough time to ponder how the incident might affect future relations between the clubs.
“Brett Blair is a very tough footballer but I don’t think he went out with the intention of putting someone in hospital, that’s for sure,” he said.
“But our concern was just for Judd.”
Boulder kicked the opening six goals of Saturday’s match and the official scores were 6.2 (38) to 2.4 (16) in favour of the Tigers when the match ended early.
Blair is expected to front the tribunal early this week.