Danger defends Tigers for bar fight

GEELONG star Patrick Dangerfield has gone in to bat for Richmond pair Shai Bolton and Daniel Rioli and slammed “d---heads” who bait AFL players to gain a reaction when out in public.

Dangerfield (pictured) is the AFL Players Association president and defended the Tigers who were involved in a nightclub fight at the weekend.

Bolton fractured his wrist when he stepped in to help premiership teammate

Rioli in an altercation in Melbourne and will miss up to three weeks.

They have been cleared of any wrongdoing by Richmond, but the AFL is investigating the incident in which the club said Rioli’s girlfriend Paris Lawrence was “subjected to inappropriate behaviour” before the forward was punched, leaving him with a black eye.

Dangerfield said players deserved to be able to enjoy themselves without being harassed by people.

“The challenges are, especially when you go out and you let your hair down after a stressful week, you’re dealing with d---heads that pull out their phones at a nightclub and are just trying to film something on social media,” he told SEN. “They’re looking for a reaction.

“You’re on a (hiding) to nothing as a player. We’ve got to treat our players like adults and they’ve got to be able to enjoy themselves, but you do deal with members of the general public that are out there for nothing but trouble.

“I really sympathise with the boys because they’re in a really difficult situation where something inappropriate happens to a partner, and maybe with wiser heads you might react differently but that’s easy to say from the grandstand.”