Manly Great Wayne Cunningham has released new details about the wild magic round he fell into.
Footage of the humiliating incident showed Cunningham, 55, being pushed into the grandstand while several people around him were punching each other.
It was an ugly start to the NRL’s Round 10 festivities at Suncorp Stadium.
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Cunningham has now spoken publicly about the incident, telling Wide World of Sports’ 4BC radio that his family was set up by many people.
“I’ve never been to a conflict … it was a bit of a shock to all of us,” Cunningham said.
“We collected tickets through Manly … so we thought we’d sit down with the Manly people. There was some (bad) feeling, you know?
“My son was sitting in front of us with his girlfriend. They got into an argument, and my oldest son turned to the man (who was arguing with them) and said, ‘Friend, what’s wrong with you?’ He was hit in the back. “
Cunningham revealed that he later had to take his son to the hospital, where scans revealed a broken bone in his nose.
He said the “commotion” escalated when his other sons stood up for each other.
“It was hard to stand there and see it unfold in front of you while your flesh and blood was taking a hammer and there were a lot of them,” he said.
“I was amazed at how many people thought it was funny. I was in the Greek theater, it was wild. And no one helped.
“It’s not the Australian way, man.”
Cunningham said when police took his son’s partner’s phone number, none of them had contacted authorities about the incident.
He plans to speak to Queensland Police on Tuesday.
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