Ex-AFL star’s footy ‘assault’

Hunt for canoe owner

THE search for the owner of a canoe found carrying fresh bait and fishing rods in Moreton Bay will continue today.

Police launched a massive search after the canoe was found floating in waters near South West Rocks on Peel Island on Monday morning. Up to a dozen boats and three helicopters scoured the area.

Police were unsure if anyone had fallen out of the canoe or if it had floated away from a camp site. “We’re conducting inquiries and appealing to the public if anyone may be out in a canoe fishing who hasn’t returned, or if they have lost a canoe in that area to contact (police),” Search and rescue co-ordinator Sergeant Daniel Moyle. FORMER AFL star Glenn Archer has denied punching an umpire after an ugly incident at a junior football match.

The 44-year-old was charged with the unlawful assault of a 47-year-old man yesterday following an under 15s match on Sunday.

But witnesses have claimed the man at the centre of the alleged stoush was known for being a “troublemaker” and was reportedly the subject of a club-imposed ban after another altercation with another parent last year. Archer issued an apology yesterday but denied he had become physically violent.

“Two kids were having a fight and that doesn’t bother me because that happens and then the boundary umpires comes to break it up, but breaks it up by grabbing the kid and then forearms the (other) boy to the head,’’ Archer said.

“I ran on. I didn’t even stop to think about it.”