Ben Long, Brayden Maynard and Bailey Humphrey come together during Gold Coast's match against Collingwood in R17, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos

BRAYDEN Maynard and Touk Miller have been fined $5000 each but avoided suspension for making contact with an umpire on Saturday night, while Gold Coast forward Ben Long has copped a two-match ban for a strike that sparked a wild all-in brawl at half-time.

A further 14 players have been fined for engaging in the huge melee at People First Stadium, with a total of 37 sanctions and more than $60,000 in fines handed down from a wild Saturday of football.

Maynard and Miller both made contact with umpire Nick Brown as Maynard rushed towards Long as the half-time siren sounded, just seconds after Long had floored Maynard with a strike to the body following a Bailey Humphrey goal.

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Making intentional contact with an umpire has previously led to significant suspensions, but the Match Review Officer has instead classified the pair's actions as "Engaging in Any Other Act of Misconduct" and fined both players $5000 each.

The MRO determined the pair's actions exceeded the threshold for what would normally be a smaller fine for careless umpire contact, but did not constitute an offence that required him to send the matter directly to the Tribunal.

"Maynard and Miller have both been charged with "Engaging in Any Other Act of Misconduct" per the table of Fixed Financial Offences in Appendix 1 to the AFL Regulations. The sanction for such an offence is at the absolute discretion of the Match Review Officer, who has determined a $5,000 fine is payable by both players, with no reduction available for an early guilty plea," the AFL said in a statement.

"The Match Review Officer has determined that these are not matters that constitute the Direct Tribunal Offence of “Intentional Contact with an Umpire”. Further, the Match Review Officer has also determined that these are not matters that constitute the Fixed Financial Offence of  “Unreasonable or Unnecessary Contact with an Umpire” or “Careless Contact with an Umpire”, in particular as the prescribed sanction for that Fixed Financial Offence is inadequate in all the circumstances and does not reflect their seriousness.

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"The AFL will make no further comment on these matters pending the finalisation of them, noting the charges may be challenged at the AFL Tribunal by Maynard and/or Miller."

It is yet to be seen if either Collingwood or Gold Coast will be fined by the AFL as part of the League's crackdown on careless umpire contact. The Maynard sanction is Collingwood's fifth for umpire contact this season, which is the threshold the Suns hit last month before the AFL fined them $20,000. The Pies could now also cop a similar sanction, while the Suns could be sanctioned again, given the Miller fine is the club's sixth of the season.

Long, meanwhile, has been banned for two weeks for his strike on Maynard, which was graded intentional, body contact and high impact. He is set to miss matches against Adelaide and the Western Bulldogs.

A total of 17 players - including Maynard, Miller and Long - have been fined for engaging in the all-in melee that dominated the clash, with fines totalling $41,500 handed down, although that amount can be reduced with early guilty pleas.

A further five players were fined for a melee in Richmond's match against Carlton on Saturday night, while another four players were cited for a melee in the Greater Western Sydney v Fremantle game on Saturday afternoon.

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Giants captain Toby Greene was one of that quartet, while he also copped an extra $1500 for 'other misconduct' towards Caleb Serong.

They are the 33rd and 34th sanctions of Greene's career, pushing his career fines tally out to $52,725.

In total across the four games on Saturday, the AFL has handed down $63,500 in fines across 37 sanctions, with that figure to be reduced with early guilty pleas.

Toby's track record

Appearances: 277
Sanctions: 34
Suspensions: 16 matches
Fines: $52,725*

*with early plea for sanctions in R17, 2026

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