Pirates have urged Central North Rugby Union to ensure security is beefed up at big matches, claiming that their captain Conrad Starr was assaulted by a Rams supporter following last Saturday's grand final at Walcha and two tyres on their bus were deflated.
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Pirates president Tom Cutcliffe said Starr was "kicked in the bum" by a Walcha supporter following their side's thrilling come-from-behind 26-24 grand final win, which sealed their fourth-straight title and condemned the Rams to their third-straight grand final defeat.
He said Starr did not know who assaulted him. "He just said: 'It was someone in red and white' ... he doesn't know if it was a lady or a bloke or what. So, you know, you can't pursue it too much further than that, when you can't identify who it was.
"And at the end of the day, the bus was parked up in the car park: it could of been anyone [who deflated the tyres]."
Cutcliffe said the deflating of the tyres posed a significant safety issue, as it was not detected until the vehicle was travelling back to Tamworth.
He said the journey was halted at Bendemeer because the "bus wasn't handling real well" - resulting in a wait for a replacement bus.
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"At the end of the day, potentially it could have been worse," he said. "But thank God it wasn't. So we'll get things fixed up and we'll put this behind us - get it sorted and move on."
Cutcliffe said it was not until the bus had reached Congi Station, some 30 kiloemtres west of Walcha, that it was noticed there was an issue with the vehicle. The driver then "backed right off" because it was handling so poorly. But it was not until they reached Bendemeer that there was sufficient room by the side of the road to pull over.
He said the flat tyres "held the boys up a bit" in terms of their celebration.
Cutcliffe - whom the Leader contacted for comment - claimed the incidents were carried out by "rogue supporters". He said Pirates had contacted the Rams and the matter was being investigated.
He said once that process was over, Pirates would speak to the CNRU about the matter and the need to improve security during big matches. Police had not been contacted, he added, as "I'm sure we can sort this out between the clubs".
Cutcliffe criticised the behaviour of some Rams supporters during the match, while emphasising the club "were gracious in defeat". He does not expect the person who assaulted Starr or the person(s) who deflated the tyres to be identified.
He said: "Look, you don't wanna see any of that sort of behaviour ... it's just not in the spirit of the game at all."
He added: "No one's happy about it. And obviously it wasn't any of the Walcha players or anything like that - just a couple of rogue supporters, by the looks of things.
"We're just following that up with Walcha at the moment and [we will] try and sort a few things out ... to make sure the facts are right before anything gets said too much."
Cutcliffe said clubs would need to be "a bit more vigilant" when big games were staged. "And make sure there's more ground marshals, that sort of thing, to make sure anything like this doesn't occur again".
He also called for "a bit more of an area where spectators can't get to the players".
He said: "I realise the Walcha people ... are very passionate about the rugby, and, you know, three years in a row: that's probably a bitter pill to swallow ... they were leading the comp all the way through. And then to get pipped at the post like that. You know, it would be pretty hard to take. But I don't know, we might just have the wood on 'em, I think."
Cutcliffe said Pirates were the victims of "tall poppy syndrome". "Hopefully it doesn't get out of hand and that sort of thing."
Rams president Roger van den Hoek said Pirates had not contacted him about the incident, and he had not previously heard about the deflating of the tyres.
He said: "I heard something about the assault on Conrad Starr, but I didn't actually know any details."
van den Hoek said the letting down of the tyres was "outright dangerous" and a "vandalistic kid" was the likely culprit. "That's not a thing I could imagine any responsible adult would do."
He said the Starr incident "sounded pretty bizarre".
While Pirates had not spoken to him about the incident, they may have talked to another Rams committee member, he said. Walcha would "definitely" look into both incidents.
"We take it very seriously," he said, adding: "As they say, between a conspiracy and a stuff-up, it's usually the latter. Who knows, there was probably a nail in the tyre and it just ... I don't know.
"And the same with the kick. I don't know what the intention was, what the go was with that. I don't know if it was some drunk idiot that's done it. It's something generally that our club would have nothing to do with."
van den Hoek said Walcha "put on a couple extra ground marshals" for the grand final, while police were also present. There were "rowdy" spectators from both sides, he said, but "a part from what you've just made me aware of now, nothing's been reported back to me" regarding untoward spectator behaviour.
CNRU president Tony Byrnes said he had not heard of the incidents until contacted by the Leader. "As far as we know, we don't know anything about these incidents," he said. "At this stage, nothing formal has been brought to us, or informal for that matter."
"If something is brought to us, we will most certainly look into it," he added. "However, at this stage no one has brought anything to us and therefore we have no comment to make."
As for the call to increase security at big games, he said "it is on the hosting club to ensure all of the guidelines set out by Rugby Australia are met".
Byrnes said Starr "has every right to pursue any action he chooses if anything like that has happened to him".
