BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

On Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers players came together for a slap fest that wouldn’t have knocked a pea off a chop.

The aftermath saw referees sin-bin South Sydney’s Sam Burgess and Penrith winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak for a push and shove that would have had the old school spitting chips at their television screens.

This however is the stance the NRL has made.

They are desperate to prove that rugby league is a game for all – not just the thugs.

On the same weekend, Ali Fahour “king hit” an opponent in a park Aussie Rules game in Melbourne.

A tradesman by day, Dale Saddington was knocked unconscious from the punch and is unable to work.

The kicker is Fahour works for the AFL as its diversity manager.

“Just before he hits me, I got hit in the back of the ribs by No.5, then I turned and then No.18 comes from nowhere and king hits me obviously,” Saddington told Fairfax Media.

Ali Fahour, who last week gave a character reference for Bachar Houli, has punched an opponent during a suburban football match. @TomBrowne7 pic.twitter.com/xMtyyMG9vH

— 7NEWS Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) July 3, 2017

“I can’t actually remember being hit. Even after the game, the boys were telling me I dropped, and I said, ‘Nah, I didn’t drop’. Then I watched the video and I saw me drop from the knees.

“I watched the video and I can’t remember it.”

Saddington said that his wife watched every one of his games from the sidelines.

“She can’t talk about it, she just starts crying every time it’s brought up. I have two little girls; a two-and-a-half year old and a three-month-old.”

But wait – there is more.

On Friday night at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne Demons player Tom Bugg laid a straight left jab flush on the jaw of a defenceless Callum Mills knocking the Sydney Swan to the ground.

One of Mills’ teammates called it a “dog act”.

A journalist in Melbourne called for this “coward punch” to be investigated by the police.

"Potential death"

A prominent doctor has spoken about how serious Tom Bugg's punch was.#TalkingFooty pic.twitter.com/2cFYYGrHWI

— Talking Footy (@talkingfooty) July 3, 2017

Another player was suspended for an eye gouge.

A few weeks earlier, a Richmond player called Bachar Houli (pronounced ‘Basher’ for those in New South Wales and Queensland) was suspended for a month for knocking out a Carlton Blue with a swinging arm.

Ironically, Fahour acted as a character witness for Houli to get his suspension downgraded.

While all these incidents are obviously black eyes for the AFL, the one that hurts the most could be the actions of one of the game’s legends with premiership-winning, 311-game North Melbourne Kangaroos icon Glenn Archer recently charged with assaulting a runner at his son’s junior footy match.

Archer jumped the fence and involved himself in a scuffle that had broken out.

He will appear in court on September 1.

There is a clear and evident issue in the AFL and for once rugby league is ahead of the curve.

Burgess and Watene-Zalezniak getting sin-binned for slapping each other makes the AFL look like a Kimbo Slice street brawl – amateurish and prehistoric.

It’s now up to AFL officials to change their tune as the battle for hearts and minds continues.

@woodward_curtis